The African region has untapped bamboo resource potential with immense socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological significances. Despite the long history of bamboo in the region, its contribution is at the infant stage. Therefore, the present study aimed at reviewing the existing literature supported by research experience on bamboo resource in the region. The review process mainly focused on four main specific objectives. These include (1) review extensively African countries that owned the resource and identify the species in each country, (2) identify and document species, generic, and taxonomic tribes of each bamboo species, (3) assess and report bamboo area coverage from available nations, and (4) highlight the existing experiences of special opportunities, challenges, and successful achievements on bamboo resource in representative African countries. The review process found out that a total of 4.56 million ha total bamboo area and 115 bamboo species are reported from 48 African countries. Hence, the African region shares 12.3% of the global bamboo resource and contributed 7.3% of the total bamboo species. Of this, 89.6% of the region is endowed with indigenous bamboo species. Among indigenous species,
Bamboo belongs to the subfamily
As a whole, the global distribution of bamboo resource can be classified into four major geographic regions [
Global bamboo resource distribution among the four major geographic regions (source: [
In this insight, approximately 80% of the bamboo resource is found in the Asia-Pacific region [
A comprehensive and detail literature review was carried out from 108 published and accessed bibliographical sources. These included 54 scientific journals, 15 books, 19 official documents from various nations and/or organizations and working studies, 11 workshop proceedings, manuals, and newspapers, 4 online accessed resources, and 5 academic theses. The review process encompassed both African countries and islands surrounding the mainland Africa. Consequently, the total area covered wider and diverse geographical locations and settings, altitudinal ranges, climatic conditions, and socioeconomic and cultural diversities and lifestyles. At the same time, the perception, experience, and knowledge of local people and nations focus towards bamboo resource are considerably varied. With this in mind, available data in each country were reviewed in detail, bamboo species were identified, and a species list was documented. Thereafter, the scientific names and their synonymous if any were listed down and particular references are cited. After that, the generic names are identified and grouped under taxonomic tribes following different references. In the same way, regarding to the total bamboo area coverage in the region, data from available countries were extensively reviewed, and then, the countries list, bamboo area, and bamboo area to forest area coverage as well as percentage share are presented. The existing practical experiences on widely distributed, commonly used, and potentially high species are selected as representative species and extensively reviewed. Last, special opportunities, major challenges, and successful achievements are assessed from typical countries so as to strengthen the resource development and promotion in the region.
Our extensive literature review showed that a total of 115 bamboo species are widely distributed among 48 countries in the African region (Table
Origin and distribution of bamboo resource in the African region.
No. | List of countries | Origin and distribution of bamboo resource in the African region | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Indigenous (native) species | Introduced (exotic) species | |||
1 | Algeria | INBAR [ | ||
2 | Angola | Ohrnberger [ | ||
3 | Benin | Ohrnberger [ | ||
4 | Burkina Faso | Inada and Hall [ | ||
5 | Burundi | Phillips [ | ||
6 | Cameroon | Phillips [ | ||
7 | Central African Republic | Ohrnberger [ | ||
8 | Chad | KFRI [ | ||
9 | Comoros | Ohrnberger [ | ||
10 | Cote d’Ivoire | Ohrnberger [ | ||
11 | Democratic Republic of Congo | Phillips [ | ||
12 | Egypt | Moustafa et al. [ | ||
13 | Equatorial Guinea | INBAR [ | ||
14 | Eritrea | Phillips [ | ||
15 | Ethiopia | Phillips [ | ||
16 | Gabon | Ohrnberger [ | ||
17 | Gambia | Ohrnberger [ | ||
18 | Ghana | Ohrnberger [ | ||
19 | Guinea | Ohrnberger [ | ||
20 | Guinea-Bissau | |||
21 | Kenya | Kigomo and Kamiri [ | ||
22 | Lesotho | Ohrnberger [ | ||
23 | Liberia | Ohrnberger [ | ||
24 | Libya | |||
25 | Madagascar | Ohrnberger [ | ||
26 | Malawi | Phillips [ | ||
27 | Mali | Inada and Hall [ | ||
28 | Mauritius | Probably | Ohrnberger [ | |
29 | Morocco | INBAR [ | ||
30 | Mozambique | Ohrnberger [ | ||
31 | Niger | INBAR [ | ||
32 | Nigeria | Ohrnberger [ | ||
33 | Republic of Congo | Ohrnberger [ | ||
34 | Réunion | Inada and Hall [ | ||
35 | Rwanda | Phillips [ | ||
36 | São Tomé and Príncipe | INBAR [ | ||
37 | Senegal | Phillips [ | ||
38 | Seychelles | Zhou [ | ||
39 | Sierra Leone | Ohrnberger [ | ||
40 | South Africa | Ohrnberger [ | ||
41 | South Sudan | Ohrnberger [ | ||
42 | Sudan | Phillips [ | ||
43 | Swaziland | INBAR [ | ||
44 | Togo | Ohrnberger [ | ||
45 | Uganda | Ohrnberger [ | ||
46 | United Republic of Tanzania | Grimshaw [ | ||
47 | Zambia | Ohrnberger [ | ||
48 | Zimbabwe | Ohrnberger [ |
In relation to bamboo genera, the genus
A complete checklist and the scientific names of bamboo species in the African region.
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115 |
In the same way, a total of 35 bamboo genera are recorded in the African region, which are classified under five taxonomic tribes (Table
A checklist of bamboo genera classified into taxonomic tribes in the African region.
No. | Major taxonomic tribes and their respective bamboo genera in the African region | Total number of nations | |
---|---|---|---|
19 | |||
Genus name | Distribution of each genus in the African nations | ||
1 | Lesotho | 1 | |
2 | Nigeria | 1 | |
3 | Nigeria | 1 | |
4 | Nigeria | 1 | |
5 | Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia | 13 | |
6 | Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, and Nigeria | 6 | |
7 | Nigeria | 1 | |
8 | Algeria, Morocco and Kenya | 3 | |
9 | Kenya and Nigeria | 2 | |
10 | Lesotho and Madagascar | 2 | |
11 | Madagascar | 1 | |
45 | |||
12 | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, and United Republic of Tanzania | 24 | |
13 | Madagascar | 1 | |
14 | Madagascar | 1 | |
15 | Madagascar | 1 | |
16 | Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Seychelles, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda | 14 | |
17 | Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, and Togo | 4 | |
18 | Ethiopia, Ghana, and Uganda | 3 | |
19 | Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and United Republic of Tanzania | 4 | |
20 | Madagascar | 1 | |
21 | Sudan | 1 | |
22 | Madagascar | 1 | |
23 | Madagascar | 1 | |
24 | Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | 10 | |
25 | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | 38 | |
26 | Madagascar | 1 | |
27 | Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar | 3 | |
28 | Comoros and Madagascar | 2 | |
29 | Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya | 3 | |
30 | Madagascar | 1 | |
10 | |||
31 | Angola, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone | 10 | |
30 | |||
32 | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | 30 | |
1 | |||
33 | Cameroon | 1 | |
1 | |||
34 | Nigeria | 1 | |
35 | Nigeria | 1 |
Furthermore, comprehensive literature review confirmed that the distribution of bamboo resource in the African region can be classified broadly into two parts. These are the mainland Africa and the associated six islands surrounding the continent (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles). The review process reported that mainland Africa has 83 bamboo species belonging to 30 genera (Table
A summary of bamboo resource diversity and distribution in the African region.
African region | Species | Genera | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indigenous | Introduced | Total | Indigenous | Introduced | Total | |||||
Mainland Africa | 21 | 63 | 13 | |||||||
Six islands | 40 | 10 | 16 | |||||||
In the same way, a total of up to 45 bamboo species are reported from each country (Table
A summary of the origin and distribution of bamboo resource in the African region.
List of countries | Origin of bamboo species | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indigenous | Introduced | Total | |
Algeria | 1 | ||
Angola | 5 | ||
Benin | 2 | 3 | |
Burkina Faso | 2 | 1 | |
Burundi | 4 | ||
Cameroon | 10 | 3 | |
Central African Republic | 2 | ||
Chad | 1 | ||
Comoros | 2 | ||
Cote d’Ivoire | 3 | 1 | |
Democratic Republic of Congo | 4 | 2 | |
Egypt | 2 | ||
Equatorial Guinea | 2 | ||
Eritrea | 1 | ||
Ethiopia | 3 | 25 | |
Gabon | 3 | ||
Gambia | 2 | ||
Ghana | 8 | 16 | |
Guinea | 2 | 1 | |
Guinea-Bissau | 2 | ||
Kenya | 5 | 16 | |
Lesotho | 3 | ||
Liberia | 3 | ||
Libya | 1 | ||
Indigenous | Introduced | Total | |
Madagascar | 37 | 8 | |
Malawi | 4 | ||
Mali | 1 | ||
Mauritius | 1 | 2 | |
Morocco | 1 | ||
Mozambique | 3 | 4 | |
Niger | 1 | ||
Nigeria | 4 | 12 | |
Republic of Congo | 4 | ||
Réunion | 1 | 1 | |
Rwanda | 2 | 1 | |
São Tomé and Príncipe | 2 | 2 | |
Senegal | 2 | ||
Seychelles | 5 | ||
Sierra Leone | 3 | 1 | |
South Africa | 2 | 1 | |
South Sudan | 2 | ||
Sudan | 3 | 10 | |
Swaziland | 1 | ||
United Republic of Tanzania | 6 | ||
Togo | 5 | 20 | |
Uganda | 5 | 1 | |
Zambia | 4 | ||
Zimbabwe | 3 |
The status and potential of bamboo resource in the African region is reviewed from different sources. According to the reports, the data are only available from 12 African countries. In this insight, 12.3% of the global bamboo resource is contributed by the African region. This indicated that bamboo development in the region is slightly improved as compared to 7% of total bamboo resource reported by FAO [
Status and potential of bamboo resource in the African region.
Country | Bamboo area (1000 ha) | Bamboo area (%) | Forest area (1000 ha), GFRA (2015) | Bamboo to forest area (%) | Year of available data | Reference | Remark |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cameroon | 5 | 0.11 | 18816 | 0.03 | 2010 | Ingram et al. [ | Data only from northwest of Cameroon. |
Congo | 102 | 2.24 | 22334 | 0.46 | 1988 | UNDIO [ | |
Ethiopia | 1439 | 31.55 | 12499 | 11.51 | 2018 | Zhao et al. [ | |
Ghana | 400 | 8.77 | 9337 | 4.28 | 2015 | INBAR [ | |
Kenya | 131 | 2.87 | 4413 | 2.97 | 2018 | Zhao et al. [ | |
Nigeria | 1590 | 34.86 | 6993 | 22.74 | 2007 | FAO [ | Overestimated and not verified. |
Rwanda | 17 | 0.37 | 480 | 3.54 | 1985 | FRA (1985) cited in FAO [ | |
Senegal | 661 | 14.49 | 8273 | 7.99 | 2010 | FAO [ | |
Sudan | 31 | 0.68 | 19210 | 0.16 | 2010 | FAO [ | |
Uganda | 54.6 | 1.20 | 2077 | 2.63 | 2018 | Zhao et al. [ | |
United Republic of Tanzania | 128 | 2.81 | 46060 | 0.28 | 2010 | FAO [ | |
Zimbabwe | 3.2 | 0.07 | 14062 | 0.02 | 2001 | FAO (2001) cited in FAO [ | |
Total | 4561.8 | 100 | 164554 | 100 |
Out of the total recorded indigenous bamboo species in the African region (60 species), two indigenous bamboo species (
Rhizome type of (a)
Culms sheaths of (a)
Bamboo mass flowering and seed production of (a)
Geographical distribution of
Fresh collected seeds of (a)
Bamboo charcoal making in Ethiopia (source: [
Common name: highland/alpine/African alpine bamboo [ Local name: Kerkeha in Amharic and Lemen in Affan Oromo languages [ Synonymous: Description: it grows up to a maximum height of 17 m and diameter of 13 cm from a stout branching rhizome [ Rhizome type: there is a controversial issue on the rhizome type of Culms sheaths: the culm sheath (Figure Flowering pattern: the flowering pattern of Inflorescence: the paniculate inflorescence is loose to fairly compact in appearance. The shape of the spikelet, which is comprised 4–11 flowers, ranged from linear to linear-elliptic [ Distribution: Silvicultural application: despite the limited availability of seeds, the species is propagated by seeds as shown in Figure Once seedlings are raised at nursery or green house (Figure Uses: traditional house construction and fencing, furniture and household utensils, farming tools, livestock fodder and traditional medicine, production of handicrafts (basketry, mats, hats, and decorative items), water pipes, weaving, beehive, musical instruments and weapons, walking sticks, furniture, and other household utensils. In recent years, various industries and factories are emerged on processing and production of bamboo products. Some of these products are production of toothpicks and chopsticks, parquet flooring, window blinds, curtains, bioenergy (charcoal and briquettes (Figure
Common name: lowland bamboo [ Local name: Shimel in Amharic and Shimalla in Affan Oromo [ Synonymous: Description: Rhizome type: the species is a solid clump-forming bamboo and classified under the sympodial or pachymorph rhizome type [ Culms: it has an erect or ascending culm with a height of 3–13 m and a culm diameter of 5–10 cm [ Culms sheaths: it is covered with brown hairs with leaf blade at its tip part (Figure Leaves: narrow lanceolate-oblong leaf blade is attached to culm sheath with a very short petiole or pseudopetiole [ Flowering pattern: the flowering pattern of Inflorescence: this species has an inflorescence with a spiky globose head and characterized by narrow lanceolate-shaped spikelet [ Distribution: the species is widely distributed in lowland regions of western and northwestern parts of Ethiopia [ Origin: indigenous to Ethiopia and endemic to Africa [ Silvicultural application: the species is propagated by seeds as shown in Figure Uses: traditional house construction and fencing, furniture and household utensils, farming tools, edible shoot production, livestock fodder and traditional medicine, production of handicrafts (basketry, mats, hats, and decorative items), water pipes, weaving, beehive, musical instruments and weapons, walking sticks, furniture, and other household utensils. In recent years, various industries and factories are emerged on processing and production of bamboo products. Some of these products are production of toothpicks and chopsticks, parquet flooring, window blinds, curtains, bioenergy (charcoal and briquette), and other related products for local and international market.
Our extensive literature review indicated that bamboo resource has some tremendous opportunities for its development and promotion in the region. The African region has untapped bamboo resource potential with immense socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological significances to local people (Figures
Traditional use of bamboo for (a) house construction, (b) fencing, and (c) household utensils (e.g., basket).
Despite immense opportunities of the resource, there are critical challenges faced to the bamboo resource in the African region. Our extensive literature review reported that data are almost unavailable, fragmented, inconsistent, and even contradictory [
Despite the long history of bamboo resource in the African region, bamboo processing and utilization are at the infant stage. However, bamboo processing and utilization in Ethiopia have some base and more competitive than other African countries [
Our extensive literature review clearly showed that the African region has untapped bamboo resource potential with immense socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological significances. However, this resource is depleted as a faster rate associated with human-induced and natural factors. In addition, there are no reliable and accurate resource base data due to the lack of well-defined definition and comprehensive resource base inventory in the region. Hence, the information is inaccessible, fragmented, inconsistent, and even contradictory. Therefore, comprehensive research and accurate baseline information on bamboo resource is still required as a foundation for policy and management decisions. Similarly, most of the bamboo resource in the region is either public or state property, so that special focus and appropriate management intervention are not practiced. Hence, the ownership right on bamboo resource and associated land is also clearly specified and certified. At the same time, various silvicultural applications such as propagation, stand density management, fertilizer application, research on mass flowering and death of bamboo and its longer flowering cycle, and preharvesting and postharvesting technologies should be implemented for higher bamboo end products (timber, bioenergy, and edible shoot). Similarly, genetic resource conservation of bamboo species through ex situ conservation (e.g., seed storage in cold room at +5 C) and in situ conservation (establishing bamboo botanic garden at field) is also practiced despite the little effort. In line with this, establishing bamboo research institutions and stakeholders, community-based bamboo cooperatives and enterprisers, bamboo industries and factories, as well as small-scale and large-scale bamboo investors/farmers in plantation development should be further strengthened on bamboo resource development and promotion in the region.
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.