Using bicycles and motor bikes is the easiest way to beat traffic. But producing steel bikes increases not only the use of hazardous chemicals but also the release of carbon into the environment.

To protect the environment while promoting the use of bicycles as the easiest mode of transportation, a group of young people in Ghana have come up with an initiative and are using bamboo to manufacture bicycles. Known as the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative, the company not only produces their products for local use, but has also gone international. The high quality multi-purpose bicycles have made gains in both the U.S. and European markets.

Bernice Dapaah, Executive Director of Bright Generation Community Foundation, is responsible for the overall management of the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative. According to her, the initiative has headquarters both in Accra and Kumasi, and gained international recognition when the project won the Clinton Global Initiative Award in 2009. The project went on to win the UNEP Seed Initiative award in 2010, and in June 2012, it gained international attention after receiving a World Business and Development Award at the 2012 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Increasing efficiency

Currently, the initiative is in partnership with African Items Co. Ltd. The company is an innovative bamboo bike manufacturer in Ghana made up of talented artisans who specialize in building bamboo bike frames to export to the U.S., European and Asian markets. African Items Co. uses bamboo treated against splitting and termites to build bicycle frames. Ghana Bamboo Bikes has a unique partnership with African Items Co. with whom they share resources and technical expertise.

The fibrous nature of bamboo means it is shock absorbent, giving the bike a smoother ride than that of steel bikes. Treating the bamboo makes the material last longer. 

Bamboo also has a comparatively higher load bearing capacity than steel does and due to the different stalk sizes, frames can be tailored to suit a rider's size. On average, each handcrafted bike takes 40 hours to complete. Ibrahim Djan Nyampong is the initiative's technical advisor and master trainer, and he teaches young people how to assemble, fix and market the bicycles. He said the UNDP's Global Environment Facility sponsors the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative through its Small Grants Program.

George Orstin, the National Program Coordinator, said that graduated trainees will soon establish their own workshops to train young people and diversify production models.

The initiative also builds "bamboo cargo bikes" to help farmers transport their products to markets, and is working with engineers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to design a "bamboo ambulance bike," intended to assist expectant mothers in need of urgent medical attention in remote areas.

According to Dappah, the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative was established in 2009 by a group of young graduates, including science, engineering and marketing students, who could not find jobs. She said the initiative works hard to offer sustainable skill development activities out of an awareness of unemployed youth. 

In partnership with African Items, the initiative pays apprentices $30 per frame and sells the bicycle frames abroad for $350 each; the total production cost is $200. Their primary market is Europe, where BambooRide, an Austrian company, imports the frames and assembles the bicycles for sale. The Austrian importers also provide the initiative with new equipment to improve precision and boost their products' international marketability.CA

(Reporting from Ghana)