China-Supported Bamboo Agroforestry to Combat Floods

Xinhua/APP

Nairobi: Kenya has launched a bamboo agroforestry project along the Nzoia River basin in Busia County to address recurrent flooding, promote climate resilience, and bolster food security.

Funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and coordinated with UNEP’s International Ecosystem Management Partnership, the project titled “Ecosystem Restoration for Enhancing Livelihoods and Addressing Climate Change:

China-Kenya Cooperation on Bamboo Technology Transfer” aims to restore the river’s ecological health and improve local livelihoods.

The launch event included government officials, scientists, and community members. Dan Opilio, Busia County’s Director of Climate Change, highlighted bamboo as a natural buffer against flooding, adding that the project will also support biodiversity restoration and mixed cropping for local communities.

UNEP-IEMP Program Manager Wang Guoqin emphasized the project’s role in carbon sequestration, ecosystem stabilization, and biodiversity conservation.

In line with Kenya’s policy to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, the bamboo initiative aligns with national goals to restore degraded forests and watersheds.