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Yushania alpina (highland bamboo) is a perennial, multipurpose and a fast growing plant that supports local livelihoods in many ways. However, for long its uses have been limited to traditional applications. Although bamboo has quit high distribution and widely utilized by large number of local communities in Ethiopia, little baseline information on its livelihood support and domestication status exist for several areas. The objectives of this study were to investigate the role of the highland Bamboo in the livelihoods of the rural community and the process of its domestication. The study used combination of methods to achieve the set objectives. The socio-economic survey involved formal and informal interviews and observations, while market assessment was employed to investigate product-market value chain. On farm, bamboo stock was assessed using farm level inventory. In conclusion, promotion, training and market facilitation for better economic incentive from bamboo may win increased local people participation bamboo cultivation, which may ultimately lead to better conservation and utilization of bamboo.

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Mr. Fekadu Tarekegne Teshale was earned his MSc degree in forestry, with specialization in production forestry from Wondo Genet collage of Forestry, & the author was employed in Ministry of Agriculture, and instructor in Dilla Agricultural College. He has been working as lecturer at Adama University in department of wood science & engineering.

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