Also on the coast of Kenya comes the business of the so-called "green gold".
We talk about bamboo and its cultivation for commercial purposes.
In Europe two years ago there was the boom of giant bamboo crops, which until then was used more for its aesthetic and ornamental appearance.
Nurseries, even in Italy, followed that type of market despite knowing that in the East has always been used for the production of timber and food sprouts, which are almost unknown here.
If Europe has become a trading business in Europe, for many only a "speculative bubble", and today in Italy there are more than 3000 hectares of cultivated land, Kenya only looks at this potential business for which there is much Demand, also thanks to the flourishing trade with China and other eastern countries.
Industry companies speak of numerous markets where bamboo crops can guarantee a great yield: food, timber and furniture are just the main ones.
There are 40 species of bamboo in Africa, many of which have been imported in India since the last century, from Europe and the East, but have been particularly affected in mountainous areas. There are also native species (famous for that abyssine), but the most common is the "bamboo vulgaris", the classical color tending to yellow. It can reach large dimensions, though it is not the most valuable one.
In Kenya, bamboo, usually takes 4 years to fill a hectare of land and be marketable, grows even faster, and even in the Watamu and Malindi hinterland near the eco-system of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest can be safely planted And develop.
Between Malindi and Watamu, after Msabaha, there is already a plantation from which many residents refuse, but the demand is greater.
The soil must be fertile, irrigated and plowed with constancy. From the third year onwards, it begins to gather some sprouts in the plantations that are kept better. Profit margins can be very high and there are already foreigners, even Italians, who are planning to buy land plots in the immediate hinterland to rely on this easy and rewarding business.