Bamboo has a lot of uses including some species being used as food where the soft shoots are used as vegetables.
However, its environmental conservation role cannot be ignored especially in the rehabilitation of wetlands that contribute greatly to nutrient and water cycling.
The use of bamboo to make tomato trellis and other climbing crops has been used for generations, especially in Asia where bamboo is grown on a large scale.
I experienced a high in my career in February 2025, when I visited my client’s farm in the Mongotoni area in Malindi to advise on suitable shade trees for his farmhouse compound when he requested that I pass by the farm and see how the bamboo I had assisted in planting for flood and soil erosion control had saved him money.
The bamboo canes could be seen sticking out in the large tomato plantation adjacent to the Sabaki/Galana River.
Previously he had been buying the sticks from local vendors who he suspected were cutting them from the adjacent Arabuko Sokoke forest bushes that are mainly made up of indigenous slow-growing shrubs.
Not only did my client make more money because he spent less on production costs, but he also stopped contributing to the indirect destruction of vegetation by not providing marketing for the goodies in the forest.
It is important to train the neighbouring communities on the propagation of bamboo and other fast-growing commercial trees that can provide the staking sticks amongst other products of trees so that they can continue to make sustainable livelihoods.
