Vietnam is the world’s third-largest exporter of bamboo with significant growth potential in both domestic and international markets. The country’s bamboo shoot sector, particularly in the northwest, offers promising opportunities for economic development and poverty reduction. In some of the more remote areas of Son La and Lao Cai provinces, where there is a high proportion of poor and those from ethnic minorities, bamboo shoots represent an important source of income for households living in the buffer zones of protected forests.

While bamboo shoot harvesting has traditionally been small-scale, increasing demand has spurred interest in expanding production and processing. To realise the full potential of this sector, improvements in harvesting and production techniques are needed to ensure sustainability, increased yields, and product quality. The bamboo shoot sector has the potential to create substantial local employment and contribute to the livelihoods of rural communities, especially ethnic minority women.

GREAT will take its growing market knowledge of the bamboo shoots sector and build on its work in phase one to continue to work with the Lao Cai and Son La Provincial Governments, and other partners, to support the inclusive development of the sector.