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The five crafters involved in the project will be helping to assess the readiness of the South African market for bamboo products.
The project is being driven by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) as one of its strategic agro-processing initiatives in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation.
While attempts to have bamboo included in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP3) released earlier this year failed, Project Manager Ken Bern says that Trade and Industry supports the initiative and “will assist” to get it included in IPAP4 when it is published next year.
With regard to the Chintsa initiative, Bern says it was one of two business plans for small bamboo value-adding projects received after a Bamboo Symposium last year – the other is at Ndakana.
ECDC agreed to fund both projects.
Bern says one of the “biggest risks” associated with the bamboo project is marketing.
He says the Chintsa project includes all the elements of a larger project from harvesting through to production, adding that although it is a small project “it will help feel out the market’s needs and size”.
Currently, the group is weaving with their hands using young wet bamboo which is more pliable to make a range of products including bird feeders, wine racks, ladders and trellises.
Bern says that achievements since the symposium include:
*A 200-hectare bamboo farm started between Bathurst and Grahamstown
*The start of interaction with various government departments on regulatory issues
*An indication by Trade and Industry to fund a fully representative bamboo industry body, and
*Expansion of the 5 hectare trial at Ndakana by 100 hectares
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