May 23 2017 – INBAR held a workshop with the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) at Bishoftu, Oromia. The workshop aimed to update INBAR’s focal ministry, MoEFCC, on the status of three bamboo projects which are ongoing in the country:

• South-South knowledge transfer strategies for scaling up pro-poor bamboo livelihoods, income generation and employment creation, and environmental management in Africa, 2015-2018
• Multilateral Dutch-Sino-East Africa Bamboo development programme, 2016-2019
• Technical Support for Implementation of Bamboo for Sustainable Watershed Management and Livelihood Improvement: An Innovative Approach to Mitigate Land Degradation in Ethiopia 2016-2019 (SLMP-II)

His Excellency Mr. Kebede Yemam, State Minister to MoEFCC, Dr. Melese, Director General of the Biodiversity Institute, and Dr. Wubalem Tadesse, Director General of the Ethiopian Institute of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, took part in the workshop, as well as 17 department heads of the MoEFCC.

At the workshop, Dr Fu Jinhe, INBAR’s East Africa Director, and Mr. Durai Jayaraman, Project Manager for South-South Knowledge Transfer Strategies, updated attendees on the status of projects and the major advances made so far. Participants also visited Bishoftu Forest Research Center nursery site, which INBAR has been using to raise introduced bamboo species. So far 63,000 seedlings have been produced from 11 different exotic bamboo species.

The meeting was a useful one: according to H.E. Mr. Kebede, the consultation meeting would enable the Ministry to take more action on bamboo development endeavors in the country. He also added that INBAR’s support in the bamboo sector could help Ethiopia reach its aim to develop a climate-resilient green economy.