The Bamboo and Rattan Sectors in Asia: an Analysis of ... - INBAR

4 DISCUSSION
The studies, carried out in several of the most important bamboo and rattanproducing
countries in Asia, give a clear indication of the high significance of these
commodities. Their importance spans widespread household use of bamboo and rattan;
ecological and economic benefits as integral components of farming systems; and
employment and income generation both on and off farm. Some of the more highly
developed systems demonstrate the great potential for developing commodity
production for industrial raw material inputs, and for substantial value addition in
processing.
There are, of course, differences between the bamboo systems and the rattan
systems. Bamboo is much more important than rattan in subsistence use, and for
household utensils, farm tools, housing and fencing. It is also used in a much wider
range of applications. Therefore, it is common to have several parallel market systems
in a single place, with some bamboo used for home consumption, some used as a raw
material for a variety of handicrafts (such as baskets, mats, fans and incense sticks),
and some channelled into industrial applications (pulp and paper, rayon and bamboo
boards). Rattan is used in domestic applications, but the largest proportion is
channelled into the furniture, handicrafts and mat industries. Also, there is more
cultivation of bamboo than of rattan. Bamboo is managed by farmers in small holdings
and, in the Anji County case for example, in some larger holdings as well. Rattan is
still primarily extracted from wild resources with very little, if any, management
input. The Kalimantan case examined one traditional rattan cultivation system, and
the Java case looked at a more recent attempt at large-scale rattan cultivation.
There are also pronounced similarities between and among the bamboo and
rattan systems studied. Notably, most of the raw material still comes from resource
bases that are managed at very low levels of intensity (without cultural operations,
proper harvesting techniques, use of selected or improved genotypes) even though
demand is increasing beyond the capacity of the current resource base to supply.
Raw material producers are, in many cases, unable to capture the benefits of
investments in improved technology. Organization of trade is similar within many of
PCS studied. This is due, at least in part, to characteristics of the material and of the
processing industries.
The production-to-consumption systems approach provides a framework within
which to compare these various systems. This discussion will look at vertical, horizontal
and intensity dimensions, and then briefly examine the general policy findings.
Vertical Coordination
One of the most striking findings from the overview of different PCS is the
strong similarities in the way that many of the systems are organized. In most of the
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