After reading the World Health Organization report on Ecosystems and Human Well-being, and the MCI/Vale Columbia Center business analysis on the potential for bamboo bicycles in Kumasi, Ghana, I was impressed with the potential of bamboo growth and use in this region. While the bicycle report is for a neighboring country, it highlights the adaptability of this resource. From clothing, to building materials, bamboo appears to be a significant part of the solution to the redevelopment of Anam.

Bamboo is also an excellent metaphor for describing this redevelopment process. It is hardy, resilient and propagates from cuttings in water alone. There are thousands of different varieties and probably just as many uses for it. For Anam, it also has the potential to be a catalyst for the merging of new and innovative ideas, technologies, designs and engineering, with the social and cultural morays, hopes and ideals. It represents the importance of rural activity and vegetation in the region (which is significant culturally as this corresponds to the areas represented in the national flag of Nigeria), the potential for rapid growth under the right conditions, and for Anam, the concept that one piece can survive independently and continue to grow while surrounded by water. Rather appropriate I thought ...