Mr. Owusu-Bio
A total of 100 Ghanaian artisans across the country are undergoing a month’s training in bamboo and rattan product development technology.
The training, which is taking place in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, is being facilitated by some Chinese resource persons.
It forms part of the 2018 edition of Overseas Training Programme on Bamboo and Rattan Product Development Technology.
At the end of the programme, each trainee is expected to become a resource person in his or her operational areas and be able to transfer the knowledge acquired to other artisans, who did not have the opportunity to take part in the training.
Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bi,o in a speech at the opening ceremony of the training course recently, urged the trainees to be conversant with the use of the equipment that have been brought to Ghana under the programme to ensure that it does not become waste after the training.”
The training, he said, will feed into Ministry’s long-term plan on the establishment of the Bamboo and Rattan Processing and Demonstration Center at Ayi-Mensah in Accra where a lot of skills training will be provided for Ghanaian artisans and investors in the bamboo and rattan industry.
He seized the opportunity to thank the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the support it has provided to Ghana over the years in the development of the bamboo and rattan sector, especially in the area of technical support and skills development.
Bamboo and rattan resources, which together constitute the two largest non-timber forest products of Ghana, he said, have been identified to be the most suitable complement to timber usage for building and construction, flooring, panel products and furniture.
According to him, owing to the current alarming rate of deforestation in Ghana and the high demand for food and wood products, bamboo could help save the forest and create jobs for the youth.
“This is because it is very sustainable, fast growing and has tensile strength higher than that of most timber wood when properly processed,” Mr. Owusu-Bio said.
Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang, said the organization of the training course was timely, saying “the world’s bamboo and rattan industry is booming.”
According to him, in 2016, the world’s export of bamboo and rattan products reached $1.69 billion, of which China’s bamboo and rattan products accounted for 68 percent of the total, the first in the world.
He added that “China’s bamboo and rattan products industry chain is perfect, advanced in technology and its products on the international scale are highly competitive.
By Melvin Tarlue