Developing inclusive Bamboo Value Chains

I.V.Ramanuja RaoSenior Adviser, INBAR

WHY BAMBOO? A POLICY PERSPECTIVE

• Perennial plant with an annual habit. No deforestation. Puts new poles year after year. Monthly incomes, creditworthiness, EMIs

• A pioneer species, it can grow on the poorest soils and ameliorate them. In rainfed areas (drylands).

• It also grows on the richest soils • On forestry, it subsists and survives with low production;

if fertilized and irrigated as an agricultural crop, bamboo provides the highest biomass yield of all woody plants.

• Survives drought, flood and fire; nearly climate proof. Resilience for the poor. Resilience for the environment.

• It is wood, feed & fodder, vegetable, fibre, biofuels, power. Diversity of markets. Hedge your bets.

• Tensile strength of steel, compressive strength concrete

BAMBOO IS BOTH A GRASS AND A TREE. NEITHER IS AGRICULTURE NOR FORESTRY.

GROWING BASED LIVELIHOODS

So bamboo needs tending.

• But foresters are not gardeners, nor are they farmers. They are also too few, not 1.3 million>>>>>>>

• Rural households should especially manage bamboo forest areas.

• Not Joint Forest Management Committees or Cooperatives.

Theoretically, 1.3 million households could benefit from MP’s 1.3 mln ha bamboo forests (if 1HH/ha)

Calculated at Rs 2000/ton (1x)

2.5 5 10 20 30 40 500

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

1x2x3x4x5x

Tons/ha

Cro

res (

6 c

rore

s =

US$ 1

million)

THE DRIVER OF DEVELOPMENT:THE MARKET

• The most important driver is the market. We want to buy bamboo products. Here is the order. Would you make it? Would you grow bamboo?

• Can only be kick-started by government opening up its institutional markets (government purchases) for similar products made of bamboo

• Government must open up market opportunities, give preference in purchases, establish a quota in the overall purchase, change specifications to include bamboo as a material

• This will drive product development, quality, quantity production, bamboo depots, bamboo commodity production, growing 

• Powers enterprise development, job creation. • Bamboo construction creates 90.9% rural jobs and 9.1%

urban jobs! This compares well with the crafts sector, where 93.5% rural and 6.5% urban jobs were created.

ROLE OF MARKETS

• Markets>enterprises>jobs + revenue>demand for bamboo>planting>planting material

• Examples of volume markets that drive plantation• Bamboo wine, Tanzania, 4.6 billion litres, 250,000HH,

plantations• Bamboo biomass for biomass, charcoal, ethanol, power Other

keystone sectors – pulp & paper, textile fibre• HHC - solid, storable, non-degradable energy, carbon capture

and storage, objective carbon credits. Drives planting.• Bamboo commodities (untreated & treated poles, slats,

slivers, round sticks, square sticks, etc.)• Incense sticks, pencils, matchsticks• School furniture – 25% of national market in Philippines, 50

schools to date in India; construction, crafts

KEYSTONE PROJECTSVOLUME CONSUMPTION MARKETS

• Bamboo dissolving pulp & Tencel cellulosic fibre: 250,000 tpa pulping capacity with zero discharge

• Bamboo for power• Bamboo for biomass briquettes• Bamboo for charcoal and activated carbon• Bamboo cellulosic ethanol• Bamboo wafer-board production, roofing sheets

and other products• Bamboo crushed panel low and high density

panel boards

POLICY ACTION FOR MARKET DEVELOPMENT: SECTOR APPROACH

Government support is essential for market development

National bamboo policy

Coordinated approach between ministries/departments – set up a platform

Dedicated policy workshops where a robust case must be made with sectoral policies and action plans:

• education sector - school desks, school library and dormitory furniture, school buildings

• tourism & construction sectors - gazebos, bars, tourist cottages, bridges, boats & rafts (manual and powered), etc.

• fisheries sector - boats & rafts, landing stations, bamboo islands, baskets, drying mats

• agriculture/horticulture sector - fodder & feed for chicken, livestock, fish; packaging for transport of produce, grain storage; shoots; poly-houses & greenhouses, sheds 

• energy sector - charcoal including household charcoal and briquettes, biomass briquettes, power from biomass

• handicrafts - baskets, mats, carvings, musical instruments, fountains, clocks, toys etc.

• transportation - cycles, carts, boats and rafts• forestry, land rehabilitation/soil protection - slopes, basins/watersheds, mined

areas including used brickfields; reversing coastal erosion• emergencies - boats and rafts, shelters, monocoque earthquake-proof structures, 

SECTOR APPROACH TO MARKET OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• BPC1: School desks, library, dormitory furniture, administration furniture • BPC2: Domestic, tourist and office furniture of higher value • BPC3: Incense sticks, matchsticks & pencils• BPC4: Construction – tourism, schools, shelters, bridges, toll plazas• BPC5: Modular social construction units – social construction• BPC6: Slat-based products - packaging, beehives, blinds, slat flooring• BPC7: Boats & rafts (including powered) for fishing, tourism, flood relief• BPC8: Bicycles and carts, other joineries • BPC9: Handicrafts – baskets, mats, carvings, etc.• BPC10: Fodder & feed• BPC11: Edible shoots• BPC12: Musical instruments, lighting, fountains, clocks, etc.• BPC13: Toys, including those for community creches• BPC14: BPC = Bamboo Processing Centre

PANEL PRODUCTION BY RURAL COMMUNITIES1-2 SQUARE METRES/HH/DAY

10,000 RURAL HH CAN PRODUCE 10,000 SQ.M./DAY

25 SCHOOLS EQUIPPED WITH BAMBOO DESKS IN GUJARAT

THE CIBART INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM IN INDIA

CIBARTCentre for Indian Bamboo Resource &

Technology

TRIBACTRIPURA

UTTARAKHAND

ARUNACHAL

HIMACHAL

CHATTISGARH

JHARKHAND

NAGALAND

KONBACMAHARASHTRA

ORIBAMBOOORISSA

NATIVE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

MADHYA PRADESHLivelihood Finance

SAKHI BIOENERGYRAJASTHAN

NATURE FRIENDLY BRIQUETTERSRAJASTHAN

NATIVE BRIQUETTERSGUJARAT

NATIVE KONBAC BAMBOO PRODUCTS

MAHARASHTRA

NATIVE BAMBOOGUJARAT

BLACK GOLD BRIQUETTES

GUJARAT

NATIVE BIOPOWERRAJASTHAN

THE CIBART INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

2015 ECO-ALTERNATES iSE NCPP2014 NATIVE BIOPOWER* iSE NCPP2014 BLACK GOLD BRIQUETTES iSE NCPP2013 WODGRA BAMBOO & BRIQUETTING COMPANY LTD. iSE NCPP2013 SAKHI BIO ENERGY PVT LTD iSE NCPP2013 NATURE FRIENDLY BRIQUETTERS PVT LTD iSE

NCPP2012 NATIVE BRIQUETTERS PVT LTD SE2009 NATIVE BAMBOO PVT LTD iSE2009 NATIVE RURAL BAMBOO PVT LTD iSE2009 NATIVE KONBAC BAMBOO PRODUCTS PVT LTD iSE

2004 ORISSA BAMBOO & CANE DEVLPMNT CENTRE (ORIBAMBOO) NGO2004 NAGALAND BAMBOO & CANE DEVLPMNT CENTRE NGO2004 CHATTISGARH BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2004 ARUNACHAL BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2004 UTTARAKHAND BAMBOO & CANE DEVLPMNT CENTRE NGO2004 HIMACHAL BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2004 JHARKHAND BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2004 KONBAC BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2003 TRIBAC BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2003 TAMENGLONG BAMBOO & CANE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE NGO2002 CENTRE FOR INDIAN BAMBOO RESOURCE & TECHNOLOGY (CIBART)NGO

TWINNING NGOS AND ISE

• Twinning of advanced Action Research Sites (ARS) with new ones, in-country, South-South

• Twinning of non-profit organizations with for-profit social enterprises

• In 2004, CIBART established the non-profit organization KONBAC (Konkan Bamboo and Cane Development Centre) in partnership with INBAR. Rapid growth in production and sales, constraints due to the non-profit institution, limited working capital, etc.

• For-profit inclusive social enterprise (company), NATIVE KONBAC Bamboo Products Pvt. Ltd, established, and twinned with the NGO KONBAC

• The enterprise attracted credit and investment - debt and equity• The KONKAN NGO communities and professional staff had shareholding in

the KONKAN Social Enterprise• Orders zoomed to $818,000 in first 7 months of 2011, now ~ $2

million/year• Share value went up 10-fold• The inclusive Social Enterprise won the second place in the All-India

Sankalp Social Investing Competition 2011

INCLUSIVE INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEMS

• How social are you?

• Social enterprises – is Pepsi one? Or is it a market?

• Cooperatives versus Companies. Commodities versus Value Chains. Cooperatives deliver value as aggregation-marketing systems.

• Companies deliver value through value addition – realized as dividends and share valuation

• How inclusive are you?

Community-Professional Partnership Model

community social private

enterprises

communities(mostly rural)

professionals(mostly urban)

100% 0%

100%0%

prop

ortio

nal p

artn

ersh

ipincreasing technology,

production complexity &

value-

public social privateinstitutions enterprises enterprises

SOCIAL INTRAPRENUERSpublic people working in the social-to-private

domain

SOCIAL EXTRAPRENUERSprivate people working in the social-to-

public domain

Pu

blic

Inst

itu

tio

ns

Private E

nterp

rises

Social Enterprises

PUBLIC-TO-PRIVATE ENTERPRISE GRADIENT

THE NCPP ENTERPRISE MODEL NGO-COMMUNITY-PROFESSIONALS IN PARTNERSHIP

Case Study: Nature Friendly Briquetters Pvt Ltd, Abu Road, Rajasthan

• The Tendu Patta Cooperative, 65,000 women, invested $6500; 21% share

• ABESSSL (Adivasi Bachat Evam Sakh Sahakari Samiti Ltd.), 10,200 women, invested $6500; 21% share

• Development professionals have shareholding to secure their future

• The NGO has shareholding to strengthen it financially; work strategically

• The company buys $125,000 of non-fodder agri-residues and biomass including bamboo annually from the community shareholders, otherwise burnt in the fields

• The women now plant bamboo for production of quality biomass.• Typically: 30% NGO:30% Community:30% Professionals:10% for

TA/support

RURAL CROWDFUNDING

• A key strategy for a robust source of HH income developed is to secure better returns on rural savings by rural women

• Few productive and low-risk investment opportunities• Savings cooperatives lend at 6% for commodity trades • Inclusive social enterprises can offer 16% for debt• A HHC unit can be set up by 12,000 women, each

contributing US$2 totaling US$24,000• The risk to a single woman is low since US$ 2 is about what

they could earn in a day in India. Further, capital is protected.

• The women benefit by selling their HHC to their company • A second benefit is dividend income to the women• We now aim to raise US$ 100,000 from 6,000 women @

USD 16.70 each & leverage further 2x from banks• Next goal is to raise US$ 1 million from 60,000 women + 2x

UNDERSTANDING SCALE

• Bamboo, for example, is several commodities, but is also several value chains when it comes to value-added products. The problem comes with scale.

• With each order of magnitude from 100 pcs to 1000 to 10,000 to 100,000 and more pcs, the production system, technologies and financing changes.

• The kind of support needed too keeps evolving, and that which worked at 1000 pcs does not work with 10,000 and 100,000 pcs. Institutional systems, aggregation systems, quality control and markets change.

POSSIBLE OBJECTIVES FOR A NATIONALBAMBOO POLICY

• Enhance bamboo density, area and productivity in forests and private lands and production of quality species in quantity through robust management

• Enable volume and value production of quality, treated, bamboo commodities

• Open up government markets in different sectors for bamboo products; access commercial markets

• Develop keystone industries of diversified products• Build a multi-level network of human resources from

bottom to top level• Strategic R & D for technology development and

adaptation, product innovation and design, allometric, soil health, soil protection, precision inventory and economics

POLICY DEVELOPMENT

• 2014: Madhya Pradesh State Bamboo Policy (draft)• 2014: Comparative analysis of policy frameworks in China and

India• 2014: Eight bamboo product policy frameworks and volume-value

analysis to be produced – book to be published• 2013: Five Bamboo Product Policy working papers produced• 2013: Conceptual framework developed for India-China

collaboration on development of tropical bamboos• 2013: Madagascar bamboo policy paper produced• 2012: Amhara (Ethiopia) Bamboo Policy developed, adopted,

funded• 2011: Rwanda draft National Bamboo Policy formulated• 2004: Ghana bamboo policy; programme launched• 2002: India develops National Bamboo Policy• 2001: Market opportunity analysis + policy framework for India• 2001: State bamboo policy documents developed for 7 NE states

+ Orissa

BIOMASS ENERGY VERSUS SOLAR ENERGY

Biomass

• Generates income• Enhances resilience• Benefits the land• Powers HH• Powers enterprises• Local employment

generation• Enhanced food & water

security• No batteries. Optional

since 24x7 power

Solar

• Enhances expenditure• Enhances indebtedness• No benefit to the land• Lights HH• None that need power• No employment generation• No• Recurrent expenditure on

batteries

Thank you!