To scale up the growing of bamboo, Barasa unveiled the first National Bamboo Development Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2035).
Barasa said the strategy will among many other things establish a National Centre of Excellence and 20 county incubation centres for technology and innovation.
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Environment CS Dr Deborah Barasa during the marking of World Bamboo Day at the University of Kabianga.
The government has announced new measures aimed at promoting
the growth of bamboo in the country.
Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa said plans are
in place to expand bamboo to 150,000 hectares across forests, riparian zones
and farms.
“For many years, Kenya’s bamboo potential was recognised but
underutilised,” Barasa said.
To scale up the growing of bamboo, Barasa unveiled the first
National Bamboo Development Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2035).
The CS said the strategy will among many other things
establish a National Centre of Excellence and 20 county incubation centres for
technology and innovation.
She said the move will help create 750,000 green jobs in the
first two years of planting through the National Landscape and Ecosystem
Restoration Strategy.
The CS said the strategy will help mobilise Sh15 billion to
drive commercialisation, value chains and carbon credit opportunities.
The strategy will also position bamboo as a timber
substitute, an alternative source for pulp and paper, furniture, construction
materials, textiles, energy and food.
Barasa made the remarks on Thursday when Kenya joined the
global community to mark World Bamboo Day.
This year’s theme was “Bamboo for the People, Planet Earth
and Climate Resilience.”
World Bamboo Day, celebrated on September 18 all over the
world, is an initiative created in 2009 by the World Bamboo Organisation to
raise awareness.
The strategy provides a framework to move bamboo from being
a marginal crop to a national driver of climate resilience, livelihoods and
industrial growth.
For many years, Kenya’s bamboo potential was recognised but
underutilised.
Kenya’s indigenous highland bamboo (Oldeania alpina) covered
over 133,000 hectares in the Aberdares, Mt Kenya, Mau Complex, Mt Elgon and
Cherangany.
More than 40 exotic species have been introduced through the
Kenya Forestry Research Institute, out of which at least 12 now thrive in
different ecological zones.
Farmers and private enterprises have begun investing and
bamboo has shifted from fencing material and cottage uses to construction,
joinery, energy, crafts, and even food.
Barasa said the adoption of bamboo was slow, fragmented and
lacked policy coordination.
The strategy now has a clear roadmap.
Bamboo was gazetted as a scheduled cash crop in 2020,
providing a legal foundation for commercialisation.
Companies such as Green Pot Enterprises and African
Plantation Capital have established plantations, while community groups like
Eco Green Kenya are expanding cultivation.
Artisans and SMEs are producing bamboo furniture, crafts and
joinery products, with Kenya
Forestry Research Institute
(KEFRI) supporting training and technology transfer.
KEFRI has successfully validated exotic species, while
nurseries across the country are scaling up seedling production.
Kenya has benefited from INBAR and the Dutch-Sino East
Africa Bamboo Development Programme, linking farmers and institutions to
international expertise and markets.
The CS said the growing of bamboo will contribute directly
to the 15-billion tree growing programme.
