How bamboo went from just a flower to cash cow

His love for an exquisite living space made him to plant bamboo to beautify his home. But Victor Shiribwa never knew the bamboo would later make his finances rosy as well.

“I started bamboo farming in 2007 for fun and to beautify my home,” he says, adding that he also planted the crop on a sloppy part of his land to check soil erosion.

However, research he conducted on the Internet in 2010 revealed that bamboo has far more useful purposes than beauty. The plant, he discovered, is a huge industry especially in the Far East, not just as a crop but as a key raw material for a long list of finished products.

Armed with this knowledge, Mr Shiribwa cut down eucalyptus trees that populated his farm to create space for bamboo nursery. He and his wife Flora started with 50 bamboo seedlings and increased the number with time.

Upon realising the immense potential of bamboo, he quit his job as head of transport and logistics at SDV Transmit in Nairobi to fully venture into farming the plant and begin planning for value addition.

“With inspiration by the potential of bamboo industry in the world, we left our jobs in Nairobi, went back to the village to venture fully into commercial bamboo farming,” he says.

“Bamboo is a very fast growing grass plant.”

In August 2013 the couple propagated 3,000 bamboo seedlings, making the first serious business move on the project.

“Lucky at the time the seedlings were ready to be transplanted, there was a World Bank lead environmental programme that focused on planting trees. We spoke to them if they could buy bamboo seedlings from us, which they did. We sold all 3,000 bamboo seedlings at sh320 each,” he says.

Encouraged by the handsome returns, the couple propagated another 16,000 seedlings which they promptly sold to community-based environment organisations.

“We realised there was funding coming from different organisations for environment conservation. Growing of bamboo was being encouraged. This saw us sell seedlings to 47 community-based groups in Vihiga,” says the father of four.

Nine years since starting planting bamboo as a serious venture, the farmer now has over 200,000 bamboo seedlings in three shade nets, and 500 bamboo trees at his four-acre farm in Shamkhokho.

In 2013, Mr Shiribwa was sponsored by the Vihiga County Government to go to China and learn about more opportunities in the bamboo industries. In Beijing, the entrepreneur deepened his knowledge on the plant and was convinced he had chosen a very promising line of business.

“We were introduced to the largest bamboo nursery in China known as Yunan Bamboo Nursery and we even bought 10kg of bamboo seeds,” he says.

Fresh from China training, Mr Shiribwa spent Sh60,000 to buy tools necessary for value addition. These included electric powered sanding machine, hand drill and specialised knifes as tools in the production of bamboo products.

“We spoke to the Kenya Forest Research Institute (Kefri) who had sponsored artisans to undergo training in bamboo furniture production. We got contacts of one of the artisans who helped us start production of bamboo furniture and other products,” he says.

Apart from selling seedlings, the couple now does value addition, making assortments of products including saviet holders, chairs, sofa sets, tables, pen holders, bill holders, kitchen tongs, bamboo spoons, jags, chopping boards, toothpicks, baskets, TV stands to coat holders.

In a month the entrepreneur, who has four workers, make over Sh250,000 from different bamboo products. Most of the sales are as result of referrals and social media platforms, he says.

“We have sold bamboo products in Kakamega, Eldoret and Nairobi,” he says.

Mr Shiribwa has bigger plans for bamboo: “We want to see development of bamboo curriculum for youth polytechnics, sponsored by county governments. Instead of using wood to make furniture, bamboo can serve the purpose well,” he says.

“We are looking at the mass production of school desks for children in schools using bamboo.”

He also plans to spearhead the creation of bamboo farmers’ co-operative society to encourage more growers and expand value addition. He has already trained nine women and youth who are well equipped in the making of bamboo products.