Abstract
The economic, social and environmental assessment of bamboo was necessary in this study,
because there is a shift by world’s industries to its cultivation and usage. The increasing demand
for wood and its products, coupled with the high depletion of the forest has contributed to the
world global warming and as a result of this problem, most industries are now advocating for
the use of natural materials for infrastructure works. Bamboo being a multifunctional, fast
growing and a renewable plant was considered as an alternative to timber from the forest. Its
wide range of uses as wood and wood product has add greatly to the agricultural economy as
this has created an employment and income generation to the rural poor who goes into its
cultivation and it has contributed to community development and revenues to governments. The
social assessment also looked at how bamboos investment in a geographical area affects the
livelihood of the people looking at the benefits, risks and threats related to the industry for the
local people whilst the environmental assessment explores the plantation’s impacts on local
forests, non-timber forest products, water resources and biodiversity, paying attention to the
interlinkages between social and environmental assessment. The fast diminishing of the forest
cover, degradation of environment and fast deteriorating ecology threatens the very existence of
man and animals. The development of the bamboo resources globally will greatly add to the
environment and the ecological balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the
impact of the industry on the social life of people, as we consider the threats related to the
industry in the locality. The study shows that a planned, scientific and holistic approach to the
cultivation, processing and management of bamboo on a sustained basis will make bamboo a
sustainable alternative material for infrastructure development and can play a significant role in
the restoration and rejuvenation of rural and national economies by those who goes into its
cultivation. By adoption and implementation of an appropriate technology on bamboo and its
products, the infrastructure needs in most African countries will be attained.