Determinants of bamboo processors' utilization level: The case of Bahir Dar city and Injibara town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Bamboo is an important non-timber forest resource with multiple uses across many different sectors. It has many economic, social, and ecological roles and is seen as a key to reducing poverty in some regions because of its value to local communities and industry. Bamboo is a plentiful resource in Ethiopia, although it is underutilized. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the utilization of bamboo by processors. A questionnaire survey was used to investigate the effects of the awareness levels of processors, market demand, financial capacity, technical accessibility, supporting markets, and market linkages on the levels of utilization by processors, as measured by the variety of bamboo products. The data were collected from bamboo processors using a questionnaire administered by trained data collectors in Bahir Dar and Injibara and were analysed using ordinal logistic regression with the SPSS 20 software package. Access to technology, supporting markets, processors' awareness, and financial capacity were statistically significant determinants that positively affected the utilization of bamboo, but market demand and market linkages were not. We recommend that government at all levels provide policy-based support and attention, either financially or in other ways, and that responsible agencies such as Technique, Vocational and Enterprise Development Centres, Micro and Small Enterprise Offices, Trading and Agricultural Bureaus cooperating with the federal government, and the International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) should prepare manuals, videos, leaflets, skill-oriented training, and experience-sharing programmes. Future research should expand on the current study by including more variables on expanded targets and using other models that consider the interaction effects of independent variables. They should also conduct comparative studies of bamboo utilization levels among different bamboo processors in different regions of Ethiopia.