Establishment of a sustainable supply chain for industrial bamboo products To establish a profitable business by producing and exporting high-value decking and panels made from bamboo sustainable produced by outgrowers. Ethiopia has the largest bamboo resources in Africa (1 million ha). Nevertheless, the contribution of the sector to the national economy is still very low. So far, the value chain is not linked to the national market and engagement in bamboo export trade is non-existent.The applicant Elephant Bambusprodukte GmbH, a German company specialised in the development and sales of innovative products made of bamboo, and local partner Fortune Enterprise Plc, a wood and metal furniture manufacturing company in Addis Ababa, propose to establish a sustainable supply chain of industrial bamboo products in cooperation with outgrowers.The two partners have establish a joint venture in Addis Ababa, invested in collection centres and a pre-processing plant near the bamboo forests and a factory producing compressed bamboo (Cobam) panels and outdoor decking in Awassa. Cobam provides a good alternative for the use of hardwood species, as such the company will diminish the pressure on tropical forests.The joint venture will be certified for Social Accountability, ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 and employ 95 staff. The company will enter into a supply agreement with four bamboo cooperatives, training 1,860 farmers and 70 harvesters in sustainable bamboo forest management practices. The sustainability will be audited by the regional office of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan INBAR.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)The partners will devote considerable effort to integrate CSR in the project. It will develop a CSR policy for the joint venture company. Its strategy of sourcing the bamboo through an out-grower scheme is explicitly designed to contribute to rural poverty alleviation. All details of the arrangements with the cooperatives are included in the contracts. The joint venture company will be certified for ISO 9001, ISO 14000 and Social Accountability. For the latter, they will either choose Ethical Trading Initiative or Fair for Life. On environmental performance, it will be certified ISO 14001:2004. The sustainable bamboo forest management will be certified by INBAR.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsAt the end of the project the joint venture will employ 95 staff on a full-time basis, of which twenty on high- and medium-level. Two years after the project this will increase to 182 employees, of which 34 of medium- and high-level.The salaries the company pays for unskilled labour are at least twice as much as the current minimum average wages and can certainly be regarded as living wages. It plans to pay 40 euro per month for unskilled labour and at least 50 euro for skilled production staff in the rural areas and 50 euro for unskilled staff in Addis Ababa. The staff will receive working clothes, safety shoes and glasses twice a year. In addition, the staff can enjoy a meal in the canteen, medical costs will be paid for by the company, as well as 6% pension allowance. In the country side it will provide free transport to certain collection points and transport allowance in Addis.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeNew knowledge is transferred in sustainable bamboo forest management and harvesting and in industrial processing of bamboo into high-value compressed bamboo products. Other farmers can benefit from this new knowledge on forest management by increasing the production of their own bamboo plots even for traditional uses.•	Chain effectsParties that will directly benefit from the project are the farmers (land owners) and bamboo harvesters who are involved in the supply chain of the joint venture. At least 1,866 farmers will yearly benefit from a guaranteed market for their bamboo culms. Previously, they used the bamboo for own construction or occasionally they sell some culms on the market. Every farmer has an average of 0.5 ha of bamboo forest, from which sustainably 500 culms can be harvested per year, meaning an additional revenue stream of 160 euro a year per farmer, whilst he can focus on other activities. The impact for the two villages together is an income of nearly 300,000 euro per year. In addition, the 70 harvesters will receive an income of 1,523 euro per season, which is an income far above living wages. Contracts have been made with the four cooperatives, which will also receive Birr 0.5 per culm for the administration costs as all payments will be transferred through the MFI bank accounts of the cooperatives. These coops will also be trained intensively to be able to fulfil their task on a transparent way. An internal and external control system is already in place with the cooperatives, imposed upon by the Government. After the project, the number of participating farmers will increase to 3,700 and the number of indirectly employed harvesters to 140.Other two long-term beneficiaries are the two micro-enterprises which will be established and have a contract with the joint venture; one for catering of food and one for the production of pallets. Transport companies will be hired for the transport from the pre-processing facility to the factory in Awassa and the transport of finished products from the factory to the port of Djibouti three times a week.•	EnvironmentThe project will have at least a neutral impact on the environment, at international level even a positive impact. The project will introduce more Cobam products on the international market, decreasing a little bit the pressure on the still existing tropical forests by providing an alternative for tropical hard woods. Locally in Ethiopia, the project is introducing sustainable bamboo forest management. As a result the existing forest starts to yield more and thicker bamboo shoots and the forest extends itself. While previously many farmers unknowingly harvested the younger stems, resulting in an impoverishment of the bamboo forest, as the culm will yield less and thinner new stems. The sustainability of the forest management will be independently audited by the Regional Office of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan INBAR.The joint venture will transform the bamboo by using environmentally sound processing techniques. An environmental impact assessment will be conducted before the start of the project to be able to incorporate the results in the lay out of the pre-processing plant and factory. However, it is already planned for to construct a waste water treatment pond at the pre-processing facility, as the carbonises take out a lot of starch which enriches the water with sugar. After treatment this starch can be used as a fertiliser for the bamboo forests.The factory will use phenol formaldehyde glue, as there is currently not a technically proven alternative available. However, the mixing of the glue will take place in a closed surrounding, without any employees having direct contact. The most dangerous activity is the heating of the bamboo with the glue, as the formaldehyde gas will then partly escape from the fibres. However, that will take place in a special tunnel dryer with a special filter. Production will be done according to the strict European norms for zero emission of formaldehyde E1 and CARB ½ for the USA.It’s operations will be certified ISO 14001, a management tool which allow continuous improvements of the company’s environmental performance.•	Position of womenAbout 40% of the total workforce will be women, mainly in accounting, administration, purchasing, quality control, loading of the hot press tablet and cleaning. Women will be encouraged to apply for all positions. To establish a profitable business by producing and exporting high-value decking and panels made from bamboo sustainable produced by outgrowers.