Bamboo Training Center in Ghana
Towards the establishment of a Bamboo Production, Processing, and Marketing Centre in the Eastern Region of Ghana
Presenters: Vincent Awotwe-Pratt (Patron, Advocates for Biodiversity Conservation- Ghana)
Prof. Dipl. Arch. ETH Sascha Luippold (Hochschule RheinMain | University of Applied Sciences)
Project Summary
Bamboo is a versatile and sustainable material that has been used for construction for centuries. It is known for its strength, durability, and natural beauty, and has been used in a variety of building applications, from scaffolding to flooring to entire homes. Bamboo is one of the strongest and most durable natural materials available, with a tensile strength comparable to steel. It is also highly flexible, making it an ideal material for earthquake-resistant structures.
Despite these unique properties, the potential of utilizing bamboo as a sustainable building material in Ghana has not been realized yet. The project’s overarching goal is to bring about a paradigm shift in the sustainable utilization of bamboo as a raw material. To achieve this, the project will create a community-based system for the propagation, processing, and use of bamboo as a sustainable raw material for the local and global building industry.
Speaker Profile:
Vincent Awotwe-Pratt is an ecologist with 16 years of work experience in the West African sub-region (Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria). Vincent is a bamboo enthusiast and an advocate for sustainability and green approaches. Vincent is a Patron of Advocates for Biodiversity Conservation (www.biodiversityadvocates.org), a Ghanaian environmental non-profit organization working on climate change, livelihoods, landscape approaches and ecosystem protection.