http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Magazine/mag071120052.htm
Bamboo solution to lake pollution

A pilot project has already started in Kisumu to demonstrate the bamboo's
potential for wastewater treatment, reports Kakaire Kirunda

WORLD AGROFORESTRY centre (Icraf) has launched a bamboo project on the Lake
Victoria basin as a solution to water pollution.

Icraf was asked by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency to
develop an ecological wastewater treatment that would serve the dual function of
filtration and purification of polluted Lake Victoria waters.

The development comes in the wake of reports by the Lake Victoria Environmental
Management Project (LVEMP) that Lake Victoria's pollution had reached alarming
levels.

One report compiled from findings on agricultural chemicals and metal
contaminants on the Ugandan side of the lake indicated that chlorinated
pesticides like DDT, endosulfan, dieldrin and lidane were detected in the lake's
water.

In the same month, there were also press reports quoting scientists from LVEMP
saying the lake may burn up to extinction due to the growing accumulation of
gaseous pollutants.

However, the report, written by Icraf scientists Chin Ong and Willy Kakuru says
that bamboo is a promising alternative since it can take up nitrogen,
phosphorous and heavy metals. These metals are attributed to pollution of some
of the aquatic ecosystems.

The Lake Victoria Basin supports a population of 30 million people who depend on
its waters but only 30 per cent have access to clean water. Water-borne diseases
such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery are common with about 90 per cent of the
population.

However, the bamboo, according to the Icraf report, will serve the crucial dual
function of purification and filtration of polluted water and producing Bahamas,
suitable for a range of industrial, domestic and artisanal uses.

THE PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO offer great potential for income and employment for
communities around the Lake Victoria Basin.

The report says that in China, the annual export value from bamboo products is
estimated to be more than $600 million, with the total value of the bamboo
industry estimated at $12 billion, almost double the total GDP of the three East
African countries.

According to the scientists, promotion of value-addition in bamboo products will
create an incentive for planting it.

That the indigenous bamboo is now restricted to the mountainous areas and is a
government-protected resource, Icraf says, there is an urgent need to diversify
the bamboo species and products.

The Icraf project has already started pilot sites in Kisumu to demonstrate the
bamboo's potential for wastewater treatment. The main focus of the project is to
expand the project to the whole Lake Victoria Basin, including Uganda, Rwanda
and Tanzania.

Pilot activities are to be extended to Kampala and Mwanza soon and will later be
expanded to other towns on the lakeshore.

Also planned is the promotion of linkages to markets for bamboo products, and
improving skills of local artisans in efficient use of bamboo raw materials for
high value products.


Raphael Moras de Vasconcellos
raphael@...
www.bambubrasileiro.com

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