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Potentials of Bamboo-Based Agroforestry for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review

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Abstract

There is widespread assertion among scientists, government and development experts that bamboo agroforestry could contribute to sustainable rural development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there are limited available data to verify the suitability of the system in the region. In addition, the current state of knowledge and adoption of agroforestry in SSA offers very little guidance as to which type of agroforestry systems bamboo could be integrated. Here, we reviewed the potential socioeconomic and environmental benefits of bamboo agroforestry and accentuate implications on sustainable rural development in SSA. In addition, we analysed potential research areas that could be intensified, so that future developments and scaling-up of bamboo agroforestry can be rooted in robust scientific findings rather than the intuitions of governments and development actors.

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Acknowledgement

This review paper was produced as an activity of BiomassWeb (grant no. 031A258A), a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the context of the initiative GlobE “Securing the Global Food Supply”. BiomassWeb is managed by the Center for Development Research, Universität of Bonn, Germany. The authors also thank the two anonymous reviewers and the handling editor for their immense contributions to improving the content of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, Fumesua, Kumasi, Ghana

    Samuel T. Partey, Daniel A. Sarfo, Oliver Frith & Michael Kwaku

  2. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), BP 320, Bamako, Mali

    Samuel T. Partey

  3. School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Naresh V. Thevathasan

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  1. Samuel T. Partey
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Correspondence to Samuel T. Partey.

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Partey, S.T., Sarfo, D.A., Frith, O. et al. Potentials of Bamboo-Based Agroforestry for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review. Agric Res 6, 22–32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-017-0244-z

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