Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese reassuring gov’t’s efforts in bamboo and rattan development
The maiden edition of Regional Conference on bamboo and rattan has ended in Cameroon’s political capital Yaoundé with experts recommending that bamboo and rattan be developed and used for sustainability by Africans. Placed under the distinguished patronage of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, the two-day conference that held at the Yaoundé Mont Febe Hotel last August 11 and 12 was chaired by the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Ngole Philip Ngwese in the presence of the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in charge of the Commonwealth, Dion Ngute Joseph and Secretary of State at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and a good number of foreign delegations.
Speaking at the occasion, Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Ngole Philip Ngwese stressed that “we need to create a veritable synergy in our Region so that the culture of bamboo and rattan be implanted in our African culture. While reassuring that Cameroon will implement the recommendations adopted by experts at the end of their brainstorming in Yaoundé, Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese urged participating countries to make sure they put into practice lessons and experiences received at the conference.
Participants said by accepting that the conference be placed under his patronage, President Paul Biya indicated that Cameroon is ready for a national bamboo and rattan programme.
After decrying that bamboo and rattan are hardly used by Africans, experts recommended that investment on bamboo and rattan be encouraged in Africa as well as its use by Africans.
Giving an inaugural lecture, the trainer from IMBAR based in China, Mrs Jin Wei said the three aspects of the training notably Bamboo plant and furniture, bamboo plantation and Bamboo construction will enable the trainees explore various possibilities of bamboo which is conducive to the ecology, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, income and job generation as well as improvement of livelihoods. The training, she recalled is the first of its type since Cameroon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IMBAR in November 25 2013.
Speaking at the workshop, the Director for the Promotion and Transformation of Forestry Products, Mahamat Habibou underscored that the transformation of Bamboo gives rise to 1500 products touching all aspects of human life and accounts for over 60 billion US Dollars in world trade, ahead of banana.
It was disclosed that since 2010 over 200 Cameroonian stakeholders of the bamboo and rattan sector have been trained by IMBAR which is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 41 member states, 80 per cent of which are African States. One of IMBAR’s priorities is to provide tailored and targeted services to member countries to promote the recognition of Bamboo and Rattan in the national economy and in the developmental and social agenda.