Feature: Vulnerable Ethiopian women weave beautiful life with bamboo craftsmanship

Fikirte Gebre displays finished bamboo products in the Green Golden Bamboo workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
by Xinhua writers Habtamu Worku, Liu Fangqiang
ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — Nestled at the heart of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a small, yet bustling bamboo workshop buzzes with the sound of skilled hands and pieces of machinery as a group of six women collaborate to transform bamboo canes into an array of household products.
The Green Golden Bamboo workshop is quietly changing the fortunes of Fikirte Gebre, a mother of four, and her five other friends. Once grappling with the challenges of unemployment and uncertainty, these women were forced to pursue illegal migration into Middle Eastern countries, looking for better economic opportunities.
“For some time, my friends and I were sitting idly with our parents after returning from different Middle Eastern countries, where we used to work as housemaids,” Gebre recalled, with a hint of wistfulness in her voice. Some 18 years ago, Gebre, along with her desperate fellows, left her home in Addis Ababa to the Middle East, eventually spending over 10 years as a housemaid in Syria and the United Arab Emirates.
After returning home some six years ago, Gebre and her migrant returnee friends had no other option but to stay with their desperate families and relatives before they embraced an unexpected chance that led them into a new life path — bamboo processing.
Hearing about a government-sponsored training program on bamboo craftsmanship, they decided to take a chance, albeit having no prior experience or knowledge about it.
“If it weren’t for our desperation, we would not have ventured into bamboo processing. People used to underestimate bamboo craftsmanship, viewing it as something limited to artisanal practices in rural areas,” Gebre argued.
Despite Ethiopia’s huge bamboo resources, the sector’s great potential to enhance the country’s socioeconomic and ecological development, however, remains underutilized and often limited to traditional processing and use. Traditionally, bamboo is used among rural communities for constructing fences, and agricultural utility products, as well as for fuel wood purposes.
The East African country has the largest bamboo resources in the African continent, with an estimated 1.47 million hectares of bamboo natural forest and the potential for increasing the resource base to over 3.5 million hectares, according to data from the Ethiopian Forestry Development.
ONE GOOD CHANCE AFTER ANOTHER
While they were practicing bamboo craftsmanship inside a government facility after receiving the four-month training, they were provided with another opportunity when Gebre and another group member were selected to participate in a two-month bamboo processing training in China, facilitated by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR).
“The training we received in China was very helpful and crucial for us. It opened our eyes and perspectives on the importance of bamboo, the different ways of bamboo craftsmanship, and how best we can embrace technology in making bamboo products,” Gebre said.
Headquartered in China, INBAR is a 50-member intergovernmental development organization that promotes environmentally sustainable development using bamboo and rattan. Ethiopia, which has been an INBAR member since 2002 and hosts its East Africa regional office, has been benefiting from the organization’s various initiatives over the years.
According to Biruk Kebede, acting director of INBAR’s East Africa Regional Office, the organization has implemented over 15 integrated bamboo development projects in Ethiopia and other countries in the region. He highlighted the positive contribution of INBAR to the overall growth of the bamboo sector in Ethiopia and the region. In addition to small enterprises, industries have now started to produce industrial bamboo products, such as furniture, parquet flooring, and more.
The training proved to be a revelation for the vibrant group of women, who became determined to harness their new expertise and techniques learned from China to transform bamboo into innovative products.
Powered with the knowledge and skills they gained in China, within a few weeks after they returned, they opened their first makeshift workshop by transforming a small plot of land in their neighborhood, which was previously a landfill area.
“Inside that small workshop, we were barely using our hands and accessories like knives and handsaws to cut the bamboo, while also manually painting our finished products by hand,” Gebre recalled.
With the support from INBAR, they were eventually able to reconstruct the makeshift workshop into a proper one. The international organization also supported these women with much-needed machinery and equipment.
“These pieces of machinery and equipment greatly helped us to transform our work from merely hand craftsmanship to applying modern technologies, which significantly improved our productivity while also ensuring the safety and sustainability of our work,” she said.
IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS
One bamboo product at a time and a range of exquisite finished products eventually, the bamboo processing workshop has become an oasis of productivity and a beacon of empowerment to the resilient group of women as they weave a life of meaning with craftsmanship.
According to Gebre, their business has been steadily growing over the past five years. During major events and bazaars, products from Green Golden Bamboo can be sold at a price of over 200,000 birrs (around 1,800 U.S. dollars), a far cry from the price of 10,000 birrs to 20,000 birrs during the early days of their business.
“Before I started my bamboo business, I was living with my parents as a single mother. Over the past five years, I have been comfortably supporting my family of six. This positive change is also clearly evident in the lives of my fellow group members,” Gebre declared.
The positive changes that they garnered over the course are not just professional, but personal as well. She argued that her engagement in the bamboo sector has not only made her economically productive but also helped her regain confidence and plan for her family’s future.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE, EMPOWERING OTHERS
Gebre and her group members, who were once fortunate enough to join the bamboo sector, are now at the forefront of knowledge and skills transfer as they encourage other vulnerable community members to embark on the bamboo processing journey.
With the help of INBAR and concerned government institutions, the group members have been sharing the skills and expertise they acquired over the years with other Ethiopians and foreigners alike.
“Over the past years, we have been able to train more than 130 vulnerable Ethiopians, mainly unemployed youth, women, and people with disabilities. Most of them are now engaged in bamboo processing activities,” she said.
They are also active participants in INBAR’s intra-African bamboo sector experience-sharing mechanisms, frequently traveling to other African countries to share their skills with other African nationals on bamboo processing techniques and products.
Gebre and her group members traveled to Kenya and Uganda, where they shared their knowledge and skills on the production of plastic-substitute bags by combining bamboo and textile materials. “We learned how to produce plastic-substitute bags by combining bamboo and textile materials from a Ghanaian expert who visited us and taught this valuable knowledge, through an opportunity facilitated by INBAR. Subsequently, we passed on this knowledge to others both at home and across Africa,” she said.
As the reinvigorated group of women looks to the future with much optimism about harnessing Ethiopia’s untapped bamboo resources, they are poised to continue their journey of transformation, empowering more vulnerable Ethiopians and showcasing the versatile potential of bamboo.
“Throughout my years of engagement in the bamboo sector, I have come to appreciate the numerous benefits of bamboo and its diverse applications in our daily lives. From constructing homes and creating household items to producing food and clothing, bamboo proves to be incredibly versatile and environmentally sustainable,” said Gebre. ■

Fikirte Gebre displays finished bamboo products in the Green Golden Bamboo workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Fikirte Gebre works on bamboo products in the Green Golden Bamboo workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Finished bamboo products are displayed in the Green Golden Bamboo workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)