China trains Ugandans in bamboo charcoal production
Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong (C) flanked by (L-R) Commissioner Forest Sector Support Margaret Adata, Undersecretary Catherine Nassuna, Deputy Director General China National Bamboo Research Centre Prof Wu Tonggui, and the Secretary-General Uganda Bamboo Association Flavia Nabugere at the Chinese Embassy in Kololo
on Sunday. PHOTO/ STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Prof Wu Tonggui, the director general of the China National Bamboo Research Centre (CBRC), expressed gratitude to the Chinese and Ugandan ministries for organizing the training. He highlighted CBRC’s extensive experience in training participants from over 100 countries in various forestry-related fields.
The Chinese Embassy in Kampala has launched a training programme to teach Ugandans how to produce charcoal from bamboo, aiming to establish a sustainable bamboo industry in the country.
Ambassador Zhang Lizhong announced the bilateral training course in Uganda on charcoal processing through utilisation of wood and bamboo. This follows the 2023 launch of a bamboo plantation and utilisation industry project designed to improve talent training and promote bamboo cultivation.
“Since 2023the, the Chinese and Ugandan governments have initiated a bamboo plantation and utilisation industry project to improve talent training mechanisms, assist bamboo planting cultivation as well as tap the potential of the bamboo industry,” Ambassador Lizhong stated. He emphasised the importance of education and green development in Sino-Ugandan cooperation, noting China’s extensive bamboo resources and cultural significance.
Ms Flavia Nabugera, the former State Minister for Environment and secretary general of the Uganda Bamboo Association, hailed the training programme as “a new chapter in the walk with the bamboo with specific linkages to the processing of wood for energy.” She recounted her 2011 visit to China, where she witnessed the potential of bamboo to generate wealth while pro-tecting the environment.
Prof Wu Tonggui, the director general of the China National Bamboo Research Centre (CBRC), expressed gratitude to the Chinese and Ugandan ministries for organizing the training. He highlighted CBRC’s extensive experience in training participants from over 100 countries in various forestry-related fields.
“The training field has gradually expanded from bamboo technology to wildlife protection, wetland protection, nature reserve management, landscape gardening, eco-tourism, forest carbon sinks and other forestry fields,” Professor Wu stated.
He emphasised the longstanding collaboration between China and Uganda in bamboo industry development, citing the 2008 partnership between CBRC and the Uganda Industrial Research Institute to establish bamboo processing facilities.
Prof Wu underscored bamboo’s status as a renewable and eco-friendly resource with significant socioeconomic and ecological benefits, explaining the Chinese government’s promotion of bamboo as a substitute for plastics.
