In Uganda, bamboo has government’s backing as a crop with real growth potential

Along a stretch of bush by a muddy river, laborers dug and slashed in search of bamboo plants buried under dense grass. A successful bamboo forest by the river Rwizi — the most important in a large part of western Uganda that includes the major city of Mbarara — would create a buffer zone against sand miners, subsistence farmers and others whose activities have long threatened the river. The National Environment Management Authority estimates that the Rwizi has lost 60% of its water catchment area over the decades, and in some areas this winding river runs as narrow as a stream.