Kitaw, Daniel (PhD))Haile, Bereket2018-07-032023-11-182018-07-032023-11-182008-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/5869Bamboo is an ancient woody grass widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and mild temperate zones. There are about 1 200 species of bamboo in some 90 genera, of which two species namely highland and lowland bamboo are indigenous to Africa and widely distributed in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has more than 1 million hectares of bamboo which is 67% of African total. But compared to other bamboo growing countries Ethiopia is not getting equivalent economic advantage from the resource. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show the benefit from the resource by developing the development and utilization model of bamboo and studying the establishment of processing plants for some selected products in Amhara regional state. These two Ethiopian bamboo species are found in Amhara region. But like any other regions the resource is not used as an input to processing plants that produce industrial and construction products. Some bamboo growing areas of the region are visited; data collected and the resource growing areas by zones and weredas are mapped. Domestic wood demand and supply is analyzed which shows huge gap between the demand and the available supply - demand by far exceeding suply. There is also increasing demand for bamboo and bamboo products in world market. General Model is developed to show the required integration between different parties to facilitate the development and utilization of the resource in Amhara region from cultivation to end market. In addition, cultivation, micro and small scale, and medium and large scale business models are developed with their corresponding components. Three products – bamboo flooring, bamboo mat and bamboo incense stick are selected for analysis for their technical and commercial viability. Required facilities are determined, project implementation plan is scheduled, and layout is developed for these three manufacturing lines. Finally detailed economic evaluation is made and shows - with the initial investment of Br. 41 million, the expected return will be Br. 94 million annually, with a payback period of less than a year. Projecting this result to national level, the country can get more than Br. 10 billion every year from the existing resource coverage. This figure could well be much higher if the cultivation and development efforts are made. The project is very attractive for investment and will help to improve the development and utilization of the resource. In addition the area of coverage and productivity of the resource should be improved, so that the country will entertain the maximum benefit out of this new sector.enIndustrial EngineeringThesis