World Bamboo Day 2025: UoK GCSAYN Mentees Host Virtual Bamboo Awareness Event
The University of Kabianga (UoK) Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN) mentees (2025 cohort) successfully organized a Virtual Bamboo Awareness Event to mark World Bamboo Day 2025 on 18th September 2025. The event, attended by 35 participants from Kenya, Nigeria, India, Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, Cameroon, and beyond, sought to enlighten the world on the ecological and economic importance of bamboo.
The keynote speakers were Prof. Sarada Prasad Mohapatra of Government Women’s College Sundargarh, Odisha, India, who presented “From Culture to Climate: Bamboo as a Sustainable Tourism Resource for People and Planet”, and Dr. Temple Nneamaka Nwankwo of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Nigeria, who discussed “Bamboo from Roots to Revenue: Sustaining Ecosystems and Livelihoods.”
In his opening remarks, Prof. Maurice Oduor, UoK Deputy Vice-Chancellor (PRD), highlighted challenges in Kenya’s bamboo sector, including poor-quality seeds, limited propagation materials, and lack of strategic direction. He emphasized that promoting bamboo is aligned with Kenya’s goal of 30% tree cover by 2032, as well as the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), Kenya Vision 2030, Africa Agenda 2063, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event also declared UoK a Centre of Excellence for Bamboo and Research, commemorated with the planting of over 1,000 bamboo seedlings.
Dr. Temple underscored bamboo’s role as “green gold,” with benefits spanning carbon sequestration, soil stability, agroforestry, crafts, construction, and food security, while calling for youth engagement in value chain development. Prof. Sarada highlighted bamboo’s significance for sustainable tourism, cultural preservation, eco-friendly infrastructure, and renewable energy, stressing its alignment with global sustainability goals.
During the Q&A session, participants noted bamboo’s potential to replace plastics, improve soil fertility, purify air, and provide medicinal value. Partnerships were proposed with Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) and UNIZIK (Nigeria), both active in bamboo research.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Divine, GCSAYN Executive Director, commended the UoK mentees and reaffirmed the importance of collaboration in strengthening Africa’s bamboo value chain.