Could bamboo save Africa?

Sadly, today I read that once again the climate change is hitting those people that have the least on this planet. Drought in Africa once again - is there any way of solving the drought problem in the near future? Let me quickly explain why I believe that bamboo grass is a quick, cheap and simple answer that will help solve the Africa drought issue indefinitely.

Farmers, traders and consumers across East and Southern Africa are feeling the impact of consecutive seasons of drought that have scorched harvests and ruined livelihoods.

- "Drought in Africa 2017", Obi Anyadike, IRIN, 3/17/2017.

- From 2011 East Africa drought, Carcasses of sheep and goats amidst a severe drought in Waridaad in the Somaliland region, Wikipedia.

Cause and Effect
In recent memory, farmers in the Westerm US had its own drought period in the 1930 called The Dust Bowl.

- Buried machinery in a barn lot; Dallas, South Dakota, May 1936, Wikipedia.

The Plains region of the United States has a semi-arid, or steppe climate. The next driest to desert climates, semi-arid climates receive less than 20 inches (510 mm) of rainfall per year which makes drought a serious weather hazard. What's more, the Plains is positioned . High winds then generate dust storms.

- "The 1930's Dust Bowl Drought", Rachelle Oblack, ThoughtCo, 2/20/2017.

Solution
The lack of rain in combination with a flat terrain and high winds causes drought. Is there a way to make the dry soil retain water better and stopping the winds from blowing the top-soil away?

Forests can retain excess rainwater, prevent extreme run-offs and reduce the damage from flooding. They can also help mitigate the effects of droughts.

- "Forests can help prevent floods and droughts", European Environment Agency (EEA), 9/24/2015.

Not only does forests help the soil retain water, but it also stops the winds from blowing top-soil away.

- Tywi Forest, Wales, Wikipedia.

But surely, planting a new forest in drought areas would take decades of work and would be too expensive to implement in real-life? Not true, there are huge forests here on Earth made up almost entirely of bamboo. Bamboo grows up to 4 inches (10 cm) every day - in just one month you could have a 10 feet (3 meters) tall forest, and bamboo seeds are very cheap too.

Bamboos include some of the fastest-growing plants on Earth, with reported growth rates up to 91 cm (36 in) in 24 hours.[4] However, the growth rate is dependent on local soil and climatic conditions, as well as species, and a more typical growth rate for many commonly cultivated bamboos in temperate climates is in the range of 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) per day during the growing period.

- Bamboo, Wikipedia.

- Bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Wikipedia.

So, there you have it; 10 feet (3 meters) tall forests in Africa in just one month. I'm sure that there are many issues with my suggestion, but we humans are smart and I'm certain that we could overcome any difficulties if we put our minds and efforts together for the better of mankind. These desperate africans in the drought ridden areas are people just like us, and they need our help - let's do this!

Thank you.

-MM

The only problem I see is Bamboo sucks up allot of water to grow.. Bamboo in a survival situation where you can not find drinking water is a life saver. Each segment of the bamboo stalk is just about full of clear drinking water providing bugs have not drilled inside the cell. Bamboo even provides you a straw if you take a small shoot and place it into a hole you have made to access the water.

Just let nature work it out
We should not manipulate and bend the ways of nature
If there is not enough food, people should leave and and stop pooping out babies like a popcorn machine

originally posted by: 727Sky
The only problem I see is Bamboo sucks up allot of water to grow.. Bamboo in a survival situation where you can not find drinking water is a life saver. Each segment of the bamboo stalk is just about full of clear drinking water providing bugs have not drilled inside the cell. Bamboo even provides you a straw if you take a small shoot and place it into a hole you have made to access the water.

True, but I believe that once you have actively farmed a bamboo forest it will retain its own water and you will not have to actively farm it any longer as the soil recieves shade from the bamboo grass and is protected from the winds, but since bamboo roots only go down 2-3 feet this will have to be experimented with. You can find water deep under ground in the most drought-ridden areas of Africa, the problem is that the soil cannot retain what little water it recieves from rain.

-MM

originally posted by: Spacespider
Just let nature work it out
We should not manipulate and bend the ways of nature
If there is not enough food, people should leave and and stop pooping out babies like a popcorn machine

People "doing the nasty" does not make the rain stop falling Joking aside, this is a question of contraceptives - just go back 50 years in the west and people having 8-10 kids was probably the norm here too before contraceptives were widely available & accepted. Contraceptives is too expensive for the poorest in Africa, and there are probably religious and educational issues too. Also, us humans are a part of nature and not seperate from it - so let's rather work together with nature to figure this out.

-MM

Africa has problems but they aren't nature or resource related.

a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Bamboo is not a drought resistant plant, quite the opposite. I'm kind of baffled how you missed that. The plant won't grow. It will die.

Bamboo is also invasive, nothing about that would be a good idea.

a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Doesn't bamboo require water to grow?

The very thing that's missing in the desert?

There might be a reason why bamboo doesn't grow in deserts on its own in the first place.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Doesn't bamboo require water to grow?

The very thing that's missing in the desert?

There might be a reason why bamboo doesn't grow in deserts on its own in the first place.

I'm no farmer, but I suppose that you would have to actively farm the bamboo grass (water it, protect it from the heat of the sun and the wind) until it has become a forest and can retain its own water and protect itself from the elements. The underlying point is to actively farm the forest until the biome is in place and the environment and precipitation changes.

-MM

originally posted by: redhorse
a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Bamboo is not a drought resistant plant, quite the opposite. I'm kind of baffled how you missed that. The plant won't grow. It will die.

There are species of bamboo that can grow in the desert.

Growing bamboo in the desert is not impossible; in general, bamboo requires shelter from freezing temperatures and high winds, as well as a sufficient amount of water. Gardeners are growing bamboo in the deserts of the American southwest, as well as the high deserts of Idaho, Oregon and California.

- How to Grow Bamboo in the Desert, Ruth de Jauregui, Hunker.

You'll have to actively farm, water, and protect the bamboo until it's a forest. Once you have actively farmed the bamboo into a forest then it should be able to retain its own water. Once the biomes is in place the enviroment will change and there will be more frequent rainfall and a higher precipitation as a result. But, it will have to be actively farmed until that happens.

-MM

Like somebody said already Bamboo is a tropical weed, it grows in many areas in the word but it needs a lot of water.

Bamboo is not all the same, the best commercial one comes from Asia and China because of perfect conditions, for fancy patio and furniture, the one that grows in the US, Caribbean and south American is a weak version that is not good for commercial use.

Personally I don't think it will work.

originally posted by: marg6043
Like somebody said already Bamboo is a tropical weed, it grows in many areas in the word but it needs a lot of water.

Bamboo is not all the same, the best commercial one comes from Asia and China because of perfect conditions, for fancy patio and furniture, the one that grows in the US, Caribbean and south American is a weak version that is not good for commercial use.

Personally I don't think it will work.

There are 1,500 species of bamboo, and some of these can be grown in the desert.

Growing bamboo in the desert is not impossible; in general, bamboo requires shelter from freezing temperatures and high winds, as well as a sufficient amount of water. Gardeners are growing bamboo in the deserts of the American southwest, as well as the high deserts of Idaho, Oregon and California.

- How to Grow Bamboo in the Desert, Ruth de Jauregui, Hunker.


-MM

a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Even if is possible, some variations of Bamboo is an invasive species, but that if the conditions are favorable.

Now, how about the cost of acclimatizing the bamboo to the are that is be taking over in the desert.

That whole area of the world is complete crap for humans. Sure, some parts of Africa are stunning. But can you really live there?

It's everything there that is wrong. It's like they can't get out of the Stone age.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Even if is possible, some variations of Bamboo is an invasive species, but that if the conditions are favorable.

Now, how about the cost of acclimatizing the bamboo to the are that is be taking over in the desert.

True, bamboo is an invasive species - but we're talking about thousands of people's life here, surely those life must matter more than introducing a foreign botany?

There would have to be made an investment to initially farm these forests, but in the end thousands of lifes would be saved and more farmable land would be created between the forest due to the new biome and higher precipitation - so this would be something that the affected countries would earn money on in the long run.

-MM

originally posted by: MerkabaMeditation

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

Even if is possible, some variations of Bamboo is an invasive species, but that if the conditions are favorable.

Now, how about the cost of acclimatizing the bamboo to the are that is be taking over in the desert.

True, bamboo is an invasive species - but we're talking about thousands of people's life here, surely those life must matter more than introducing a foreign botany?

There would have to be made an investment to initially farm these forests, but in the end thousands of lifes would be saved and more farmable land would be created between the forest due to the new biome and higher precipitation - so this would be something that the affected countries would earn money on in the long run.

-MM

We could also just import food there too instead of making permanent changes. That would likely be cheaper and quicker to get done than making a bamboo forest.

originally posted by: Chromium51
We could also just import food there too instead of making permanent changes. That would likely be cheaper and quicker to get done than making a bamboo forest.

True, we could do that in addition to creating forests.

Bamboo forests would make a permanent change to the environment there, thus preventing future famines due to droughts.

-MM

a reply to: Spacespider

Just let nature work it out We should not manipulate and bend the ways of nature If there is not enough food, people should leave and and stop pooping out babies like a popcorn machine

I think you have been misinformed. The decrease in the number of women having babies globally, is at the root of one the problems that many find problematic.

Over population is being pushed as the cause of the world's problems and they have pushed and conditioned us for de-population, but the truth is that we are looking more towards a future similar to the one in the movie "Children of Men", than towards one of over population.

We have to be careful what we wish for.

A country’s population is stable when TFR is equal to replacement rates. These vary by country but globally work out to around 2.1 children per woman. The reason the replacement rate is slightly higher than 2 is not only do women need to replace themselves and the father but also to factor in children who die before reaching adulthood and women who die before the end of their child bearing years. With that in mind, you can see that many countries in the world (all in dark blue) are now below replacement level including 3 of the 4 BRIC countries (China, Russia and Brazil), all of Europe (except France, Ireland and Turkey) along with Japan, Canada and Australia, among others. This means that without immigration all these countries will see long term population decreases.

The Astounding Drop in Global Fertility Rates Between 1970 And 2014

globalfertilitymap.com...#-23.563987128451217,115.31249999999999,1

originally posted by: galaga
That whole area of the world is complete crap for humans. Sure, some parts of Africa are stunning. But can you really live there?

It's everything there that is wrong. It's like they can't get out of the Stone age.

A very large portion of those problems are political... Rwanda and 800,000 slain in a stupid tribal conflict...or South Africa not that long ago as a producing nation of excess and where they are today... Even Nigeria with its' riches in oil revenue is plagued by insurgents and corruption.. Political and yes weather extremes... But look at California which was an arid place and what it was transformed into with proper resource management. Look at Israel and how they feed themselves.. Allot can be done with a little education and a will for the people... Much of both are severely lacking in many places in Africa.