Bamboos in the Rural Livelihood Systems

Bamboos in the Rural Livelihood Systems (A Case of High Altitude Bamboo (Borinda Grossa) in Sephu geog).

Background.

Bamboo is an integral part of forestry and a major non-wood forest product especially in the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is closely associated with indigenous culture and knowledge and is widely used for housing, forestry, agroforestry, agricultural activities, games, musical instruments and utensils. Bamboo belongs to the Gramineae family and has about 90 genera with over 1200 species (FAO, 2005).

Bamboos in general represent an important forest resource for the rural communities both for the farming activities as well as a source of food and cash income in Bhutan. Like in any other developing world, although the roles may vary, but use of bamboo is deeply rooted in all types of farming system practiced throughout the country. Bamboo grows naturally in Bhutan because of the country's largely undisturbed forests and the limited agriculture practiced in areas where bamboo proliferates. The Bhutanese bamboo is principally of Himalayan and Chinese-Japanese origins, with some from Southeast Asia and South India. The bamboos are found throughout the country based on topography and climatic conditions. It is estimated that Bhutan has about 15 genera with 34 different bamboo species (Pradhan and Rinchen 1996). Possibly as many as 50 or more species exist, but have yet to be identified. Knowledge of the distribution of Bhutan's bamboo species is limited. Major species found in sub-tropical areas include Bambusa nutans, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, D. sikkimensis, D. patelleries, D. strictus Drepanostachyum hookerianum, and D. intermedium. Higher elevation species include Arundinaria racemosa, A. maling and A. polystachya. Other species are Dendrocalamus hookeri and Arundinaria griffithii (Rinchen, 2003).

The bamboo (Borinda grossa) is one of the high altitude species that is deeply integrated into the most of the Bhutanese farming systems. It is distributed in many parts of the country mainly in the districts of Trongsa, Punakha, Bumthang, Trashigang, Thimphu and parts of some other districts, usually found in wet temperate mixed coniferous forest from 2500 to 3200 meters often associated with hemlock (Tsuga dumosa). Borinda grossa, like other bamboo species has a multiple domestic use. It is mainly used as construction materials both for human housing (bamboo mat for roof, wall, floor, etc.), and livestock sheds, and also for fencing the crops in majority of the farming systems. But beyond construction and fencing use it plays an important and special role in the farming system of Sephu geog under Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag. Traditionally bamboo and its products form an integral part of the farming system of Sephu geog supporting the livelihood of the communities, dependence varying from household to household. But it is an important income source for most of the households. The bamboo products are mostly exchanged for grains mainly during winter with the lowland farmers under Wangdue and Punakha dzongkhags while some are sold in the urban markets for cash. The bamboo products are the main sources of income especially for those households owning limited landholdings and cattle.

The bamboo resources are mostly extracted from the open national forest and some households also own few acres of private plantations in their registered land. Despite the emergence of alternative income generating activities bamboo still plays an important role in the farming systems for sustaining the livelihoods of farm households.

Policy and legislation Forests play an important role in assuring food security in the country. In addition to the crop and livestock activities pursued by the farmers, non-wood forest products represent a very important supplementary source of income to many rural households. Although the full impact of NWFPs on the rural households is not yet known, a wide range of non-wood forest products are harvested and used daily by the households. As such rules and orders have been issued from time to time to enforce forest policy and also to allow people to enjoy- traditional use of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) like medicinal plants, pine resin tapping, natural dyes, bamboos and canes, mushrooms, lemon grass, lac, etc. The Forestry policy in general focuses on conservation and sustainable utilization of forest resources, contributing to the social justice and equity (IUFRO and FAO, 1997).

Realizing the potential of medicinal plants and herbs, the export of these plants were banned by the Department of Forest in May 25, 1988. In the same year rules for tapping chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) for resin were approved. The Royal Government of Bhutan also waived the forest royalty and sales tax on the lac in 1980 and stopped the export of vegetable dyes in 1985 to limit the use within the country only. The bamboo is an important non-wood forest products that is deeply rooted into the farming system. In 1978 RGOB allowed villagers in Phuentsholing to collect bamboo and canes without royalty to encourage production of handicrafts for sale or domestic use. Similarly in 1979 people of Mongar and Zhemgang and Moenpas under Trongsa Dzongkhag were also issued permits without royalty to encourage the production of cane and bamboo handicrafts for sale or domestic use (FAO 1995).

Rationale and Objectives

Bamboo and Rattan play important part in the life and livelihood of certain section of the people in Bhutan. Bamboo in general is a major construction material particularly in rural areas. It can be used for almost all parts of houses, including posts, roofs, walls, floors, beams, trusses and fences. Even the material for ceiling is made from bamboo. Bamboo is aptly termed as a poor Man’s timber through out the tropics. Rural people through out the country cannot live without bamboo since rural poor houses are mostly built with bamboo entirely. In the modern house building bamboo is used for scaffolding.

Similarly bamboos also support the livelihoods of some vulnerable sections of the rural population in Bhutan. For example, Monpas in Central Bhutan, some communities in Kheng (Bjokarpas) under Zhemgang dzongkhag, and in Kangpara under Trashigang dzongkhag significantly depend on cane (the stem of the climbing palm of the genus Calamus and other related genera) and bamboo resources and products for their livelihood. The Monpas under Trongsa are the ethnic tribes with distinct dialect and cultural traits. It is reported that only 47 Monpa households remain today in Bhutan. The Monpa's livelihood is dependent on forest resources, especially cane and bamboo as they are used for construction, fuelwood, handicraft production, agriculture and as fodder for livestock and also for consumption. The age-old traditional cane and bamboo handicraft skills are prevalent among the communities. However, bamboo resources are reported to be depleting due to over exploitation, poor harvesting practice and inadequate community awareness on conservation of natural resources.

The communities of Sephu geog also depends significantly on the bamboo resources and its products for their livelihood especially borinda grossa. Besides the construction and other domestic use, they use bamboo to produce mats, baskets, containers, tools, handles, hats, traditional toys, musical instruments and storage grain facilities. While the use of bamboo is deeply rooted in the rural production system, the increase in population and demand is presenting a new dimension in the trade of the bamboo products and its resource base. In addition to the customary bamboo handicraft barter with the lowland farmers, the emergence of urban cash markets for the products is bringing a change to the bamboo production objectives. As such despite the availability of alternative livelihood opportunities and decline in bamboo works some households still prefers to continue to engage in bamboo activities mainly due to the growing new urban markets for the bamboo products.

Sephu geog is well known for its bamboo works and its trade with the lowland farmers bartered mostly for cereals like paddy, maize and wheat. While the bamboo (Borinda grossa) and its product play a significant role in the livelihood of the highland farming system, the sustainability of bamboo work and its contribution is a concern due to few emerging issues such as; a) Uninterested younger generations to pursue bamboo craft; b) Need for product diversification and value addition of bamboo handicrafts; c) Traditional barter verses demand from the urban markets; d) Availability of substitutes (mainly plastic products) e) Absence of proper bamboo plantations and management practices and; f) Bamboo resource depletion due to competition from the urban users. Therefore, the objectives of this SL case study video are to;

1. present the bamboo resources (Borinda Grossa) and its role in the farming system 2. illustrate the importance of bamboo products to the household livelihood system 3. present the emerging issues in the trade of bamboo handicrafts 4. present an overview of bamboo products market scenario

Bamboo and Household Livelihood System

The forest is an important component of the farming system of the area, on which the crop and livestock production systems are heavily dependent upon. The high dependence of crop and livestock system on the forest indicates subsistence nature of production system. The importance of forest in the area is reflected by the multiple uses, such as source for fuel wood, tools and implements, timber, fodder, leaf litter and other NTFPs. With legalization of Cordycep collection in 2004, people from the study area has also started collecting cordyceps, which provides a good cash income source despite being laborious.

Among bamboo resources, Borinda grossa plays a very significant role in the farming system of Sephu geog especially as an important source of household income. Trading of bamboo handicrafts for cereals (paddy, maize, millet) with the lowland farmers is a customary activity. The bamboo resources used for commercial as well as for domestic purposes are collected from the nearby forest by obtaining permits from the government by paying Nu.8 for every 100 bamboo culm. Some of the respondents also have few bamboo plantations in their registered land (Annexure 1) .

The major livelihood supporting farming activities include crops and vegetables, livestock, non-wood forest products such as bamboo handicrafts and recently the cordyceps. Besides crop and livestock activities, bamboo handicrafts present an important source of household income (for supply of grains as well as cash) for most of the households in the geog (80.9% of the respondents). The farmers in the geog produce a wide range of traditional bamboo (Borinda grossa) products for domestic use as well as for sale (Table 1).

Table 1 Types of bamboo handicraft and their uses Sl. Products No. of Uses No. producer 1 Bechab 12 For winnowing grains, drying vegetables 2 Changcho 11 For filtering wine (brew), used for cooking purpose. 3 Jatsa 15 For filtering tea 4 Lakchu 11 To serve the public in meeting, store zaw 5 Reday 9 Dry grains etc in sun, as a carpet. 6 Sepa 1 To store milk products and chilly pickle 7 Shokup 9 Store grain, vegetable, thread etc, dustbin 8 Tochu 3 Serve monks in dratshang, store grains, etc. 9 Tsew 2 Collect fire wood, fodder, transport manure, etc. 10 Leuop Grain storing 11 Bamboo mats For housing and fencing purposes (mostly urban demand) Source: Survey March 2007

The crop, bamboo and livestock products are the three main sources of income for the farmers in the area (Table 2). The bamboo products form the major source of cash income (80.9%) for the respondents. Since 2004, with the commercialization of Cordycep, it is becoming an important source of cash income for some households especially for those with ample able household family members. However, the detail information on corycep is not available at the moment.

Table 2 Sources of Household Income Sl. Source of income Households % of farmers No 1 Bamboo Handicraft 17 80.9% 2 Potato 3 14.3% 3 Livestock 1 4.8% 4 Cordycep -- -- Total 21 Source: Survey March 2007

Market and Bamboo products The bamboo products are both bartered with the lowland farmers in Punakha and Wangdue dzongkhags and sold in the urban markets like in Thimphu. Some producers also sell their products in the local small shops. The people who sell to other districts earn more when compared to those of the local sellers. It is a customary trade to barter the bamboo handicrafts for paddy and other crops in the low land areas. For example, bechap (for winnowing) is sold for Nu.100 either in the markets or in villages, and exchanged for 5 dey of rice (approximately 7.5 kg of rice). In the local market (Chazam), they sell it for Nu. 80 and 2.5 drey if exchanged for rice. For the bulky products such as reday (mat for drying grains) and leuop (grain storage) they usually carry the raw materials and based on the demand they make products in the villages where they trade their products for the cereals. Usually they carry with them only the ready made lighter and small products are which are easier for transportation. The exchange rates are fixed based on the size and type of bamboo products. It’s said that while many industrial substitutes are available, still there are households in the lowland prefers to use bamboo products.

The emergence of urban market is a new opportunity for the bamboo handicraft producers as such some people feel that the demand for bamboo handicrafts is increasing. They feel that this may be due to the increase in population and their income. The urban people buy the bamboo products both for domestic use and for decorative purposes. Since the bamboo products are very traditional in design and appearance, product innovation and diversification (value addition) will be necessary and profitable to take advantage of the new urban demand.

Bamboo Handicrafts and Resources Bamboos in general continue to hold their important place in the rural economy of developing countries like ours. They are the source of food as well as cash income for the households in the rural areas. With the emergence of new urban markets, bamboo handicrafts have greater scope in future. However, unfortunately, it is expressed that most of the younger generations in the study area are not interested to pursue the traditional trade of making bamboo handicrafts or in learning bamboo works, as most of them are interested to opt for more urban based livelihood activities if they are not successful to get employment in the civil sector. This is a big worry on the continuity of the bamboo handicraft in the study area in the coming future.

The bamboo resources required for making handicrafts are mostly collected from the natural forest and occasionally from their private plantations that is only when they need smaller quantities. At present they collect bamboo mainly from two places namely Bachuphu in the northeast and Tongye in the northwest of the village. According to some of the respondents, the bamboo resources have depleted compared to the past. In the past bamboo resources were easily available in the nearby forest within few hours of walk but at present the distance to bamboo resources have increased taking several hours to get a single load of bamboo. The increased urban population and their demand, the indiscriminate cutting of the bamboos, damage by wild pest like bear, monkey, wild pigs which feeds upon bamboo shoots and illegal collection of bamboos are seen as some of the reasons leading to the depletion of bamboo resources.

In the recent years some farmers have planted bamboos in their registered land. Some of the respondents own small areas of private bamboo plantations. The private plantations are not big and the management is not complicated. The private plantations are mainly used for domestic purposes in meeting smaller demands. The encouragement of bamboo plantations in the registered barren land provides the opportunity for the farmers to increase their access to the bamboo resources required for bamboo handicraft productions.

Conclusions The bamboo has played and still continues to play an important role in the farming system of the study area. For some households bamboo is the most important source of household income. The growing urban population and their increased demand for bamboo products present a new dimension for the bamboo handicrafts especially in terms of product diversification to take advantage of urban market demand. Increasing the use of bamboo resources in making Bhutanese handicrafts has the advantage of building upon existing traditions without threatening the country's cultural heritage or way of life. There is however a need to diversify the bamboo handicrafts by introducing new and modifying old products to take advantage of the growing urban market. This will raise the income of the rural people while allowing them to sustain the bamboo trade and its contribution to the livelihoods of the people.

The bamboo resource depletion is a growing concern among the users but exists very little or no information on the bamboo (borinda grossa) resource base. A more indepth study on the assessment of the bamboo resource base and factors contributing to it is felt necessary and useful for planning future management of bamboo resources. The promotion of bamboo plantations in the private registered land as already practiced by some farmers will not only ease the pressure on the bamboo resources in the open forests but will also improve the accessibility.

The farmers produce a wide range of bamboo products that are marketed individually at present. The unavailability of transportation, low product prices and varying product quality are some of the main concerns of the bamboo handicraft producers. The group marketing may be an option to solve the transportation and low price problems, and also to ensure a uniformed product quality. Therefore, possibilities need to be explored for forming bamboo handicraft production and marketing by the interested farmers.

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