News

The first inspection of the project site in Fiaso unfortunately brings the realisation that the land is much smaller than assumed. There has been confusion here in the past between the units of measurement feet and metres. In addition, the land is difficult to access and has a steep slope, which is unfavourable for the planned development. However, the Fiaso land is perfectly suited for bamboo cultivation courses! We will have to look for a new site for the construction of the training centre.

Fiaso, Ghana
7.5851710, -1.8185680
7°35’06.6″N 1°49’06.8″W
https://goo.gl/maps/XBV5kUmAFjv2zcjb6

Plot dimensions
Feet: 171.1 x 91.6 x 169.0 x 91.2
Metre: 52,13 x 27,92 x 51,51 x 27,80

Rabea Schürmann and Johanna Liekmeyer travel to Ghana at their own expense for their foreign assignment of several months. In their home there, they conduct their first experiments with bamboo. In the process, they quickly encounter the dreaded “powder post beetle”, which likes to turn untreated bamboo into dust.

Rabea Schürmann takes part in “The Bamboo U Online Immersion”, a comprehensive course on bamboo. As part of the course, she begins working with Federico Antonelli, a young, ambitious architect (MArch) from Italy who has made sustainability the guiding principle of his professional career. In the module “Bamboo Model Making”, ideas and designs are created for the workshop and seminar area, as well as the treatment facilities for the bamboo training centre in Ghana.

Our Project coordinator Wilfred Dery participated in the Inter-Africa Ghana Bamboo Study Tour (26th – 30th April, 2021).

The wall pillars are ready. The next step is to insert bamboo poles as intermediate elements, but they must be treated beforehand. Because bamboo is on the menu of some small crawling animals that love it for its sugar content. This can be remedied by treatment with boron salts, which are not really toxic, but make the bamboo inedible for the animals. In this way, bamboo can be preserved in an environmentally friendly way. We were finally able to procure the borax and boric acid components required for this (last picture). Now it is time to prepare for the treatment of the first bamboo culms … an important milestone!

The start after the Corona construction stop is delayed due to continuous and heavy rainfall. There are no paved roads leading to our project site yet, therfore accessing it is very difficult at the moment. Unfortunetely the truck with a delivery of wall stones got stuck… Fortunately, there were many hard-working helpers who picked the stones from the truck which could then be pulled out of the mud. The wall stones were finally transported to the project area with a smaller vehicle. They will be used to finish the masonry part of the wall. Very soon we can start with the bamboo elements!

The corn grows and ripens! It’s a win-win situation: A local family uses the project site for corn and cassava cultivation during the construction stop. The harvest gives them food and income. While farming, they care for the land and keep it clean of weeds. This saves us expenses for clearing the land again.

The family is already looking forward to the first harvests and thanks our project coordinator with real treats: grilled corn on the cob – yummy, you’d love to be there yourself!

Rainy season and Covid-19 force a construction stop: In the meantime, we release the project site temporary to the “locals” for corn cultivation.

Stone on stone: The property wall is built.

The wildly overgrown land is cleared and prepared, building materials are organised and transported to the project site. Blocks are moulded and trenches for the wall foundation along the property boundaries are dug. All by muscle power and manual labour of the local workers!

It is time! Two adjoining plots of land in Fiaso are bought, or more precisely, leased. In Ghana the land always remains in the possession of the government, one can only acquire it through a lease contract up to 99 years with the Ghana Land Commission. This lease period can be extended upon expiry.

With a stream adjacent to the land, the site offers optimal conditions for the cultivation of bamboo and thus enables training in bamboo cultivation, care and harvesting on the project site.

Wilfred Dery and representatives of the Bamboo Farmers Association visit various local communities and meet the community leaders to recruit them as project partners. The location for the project has been chosen: Fiaso, a rural community in Bono East Region.