Bamboo seedling can sow a future of prosperity!

Ref: TF-BIO/010 10 April 2013

The Manager Tea Factory Subject: Bamboo as alternative biomass for Tea Factories 1. The need for an alternative energy resource to meet the demand for processing Kenyan quality tea, which is largely processed using wood, has been a subject of explicit reflection recently. 2. A government survey of 2010 indicates that Kenya has a forest cover of 5.9 percent. Competition for timber is getting tougher, trees resources are becoming scarce and opportunities to plant are more limited. The use of bamboo as an alternative timber resource, to traditional timber is now necessary for tea factories to meet thermal energy in a sustainable manner. 3. Scientific research on the physical and chemical analyses of bamboo has showed its suitability for energetic uses. Accordingly, analyses on the calorific value, moisture, ash and chloride content of bamboo have showed that bamboo is an indispensable alternative as a biomass resource compared to traditional timber. In comparison to traditional timber, bamboo is a renewable resource. When bamboo is harvested, it continues to grow new shoots, without a period of regeneration. 4. There are 1250 species of bamboo globally and 18 in Kenya. Bamboo, a wonder plant, is the strongest and fastest growing woody plant on earth, with a global trade worth US$2 billion per year and it is in everyday use by about 2.5 billion people, mostly for food and shelter. 5. Oxytenanthera abyssinica also known as the solid bamboo is among 38 priority bamboos of economic importance. The stems of solid bamboo mature at an early age of 3 to 4 years. Clump longevity is estimated at 40 years. This solid bamboo grows in poor soil and it is adapted to long dry seasons and uncertain rainfall patterns. Soil fertility is therefore not a major influence. 6. Solid bamboo is a clump consists of 20100 (or up to 300) stems between 1015m tall and up to 10cm in diameter. It grows with an annual rainfall of 350-800mm. The culms are solid in the lower internodes and semi solid from the upper half to the top. A plantation of O. abyssinica can yield 10-33 tons of dry stems per hector per year in an arid ecological zone. 7. There are at least 1500 recorded uses of bamboo. The important usages are mainly in paper industry, building material, energy in tea factories, thermal energy and electrical energy, handicrafts, high quality raw material for industrial wood, medicinal products, environment, edible shoots and new generation products such as wood substitutes, bamboo boards, tiles etc.

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Kitil Farm HQ, Isinya, Kajiando District P.O.Box 762 00606 Sarit Centre, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254 787456156, +254 722729630, Fax: +254 2 02701803 E-mail: kitilfarm@gmail.com; Web site: www.kitilfarm.com

8. Kitil Farm is a licensed open quarantine. We grow bamboo seedlings from seed and tissue culture using biotechnology. Kitil Farm exports bamboo plantlets to any part of the world accompanied by a Phytosanitary certificate. We have established bamboo nurseries in various countries to empower investors like yourself with quality bamboo seedlings at your location to start bamboo commercial forests for a sustainable biomass production. 9. Accordingly, we also extend expatriate support to establishment such as yours, in bamboo training, on planting, clump maintenance, harvesting and preservation. We have over 2.8 million bamboo seedlings. 10. Kitil Farm is based in Isinya, Kajiando County, 45 minutes drive from Nairobi. At Isinya town, branch to the left and drive on for 5 km.

Yours sincerely, J M. Njuguna CEO, Kitil Farm

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Kitil Farm HQ, Isinya, Kajiando District P.O.Box 762 00606 Sarit Centre, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254 787456156, +254 722729630, Fax: +254 2 02701803 E-mail: kitilfarm@gmail.com; Web site: www.kitilfarm.com