Assessment on the Ethnobotanical Importance of Bamboo tree Among the Berta People of Assosa Zone, Assosa Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz, Ethiopia
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Date
2019-08-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Bamboo is one of the world’s most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and managed bamboo harvesting and marketing has been advocated for poverty alleviation in many regions. Beneshangul Gumuz is one of bamboo cultivating region in Ethiopia and since there is lack of information about ethno botanical importance of bamboo, the main reason for this study wasto focuson howthe bamboo plants have been or used or, managed, and perceived by Berta people in Assosa zone, Assosa woreda .The main objective of this study was to assess the ethno botanical importance of bamboo tree among Berta people of Assosa Sworeda of Beneshangul Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia. Fifteen kebeles and 150 sample households (HHs) were selected purposively. This research is a descriptive type with qualitative and quantitative research methods. The research used both primary and secondary data sources. Primary data sources were obtained through questionnaires that were distributed to the selected samples- those people who have been living in the study area for more than 20 years and semi-structured interview and focus group discussion were also employed. The source of secondary data includes materials like books, journals and sources from the internet. To determine the sample, the researchers used the purposive sampling and also proportional sampling was used toselect number of samples from the fifteen kebele. The findings of the study showed that bamboo has a great ethnobotanical importance for the Berta people which include: - house construction, fencing, food, fodder, medicine, household items and musical instruments. Unlike other bamboo growing areas bamboo in the studied kebeles of Assosa woreda is not a source of income. Bamboo is decreasing in the study area because of termites’ damage, clearing for agriculture, fire hazards, and damage by animals. Majority of the respondents know the ecological importance of bamboo and most of them conserve it using traditional method. The study forwarded the following recommendations; bamboo should be protected from interference, create awareness for the local community to conserve and manage bamboo scientifically, decrease the risk of bamboo fire, introduce technology to process bamboo into other products, protect and conserve bamboo to make it source of income by creating a market for the farmers, establishing bamboo processing industries introduce ‘Qontsu’ as a food to other communities, and conducting adequate research on the ethnobotanical importance of bamboo.
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Bamboo, Ethnobotany, Importance, Qontsu