Tombwe Smallholder Reforestation Project.
Four regions of Zambia. Clumping bamboo planted with a network of smallholder farmers on degraded land.
A grouped reforestation project working across four key regions of Zambia, building on Tombwe’s multi-decade experience developing a network of smallholder farmers. The project uses degraded land and thousands of smallholders to plant select species of clumping bamboo, targeting more than 950,000 seedlings over ten years. Alongside the carbon removals, the plantings provide a sustainable source of biomass for wood fuel and energy, reducing pressure on remaining trees and woodland.
Tombwe Processing Limited has sole ownership of the project. EcoPlanet Bamboo Group was contracted to provide expert services for the development of the project design document and the relevant MRV systems. Operational since 2019.
How the project works
Planting runs through two frameworks: a demonstration farm, and smallholder farmers on their own land. Both plant the same two species, Bambusa balcooa and Dendrocalamus asper, chosen for climatic suitability. Smallholders are trained to use thinned bamboo as fuel for drying tobacco and for cooking and heating at home, which is the mechanism by which the project reduces pressure on remaining trees and woodland.
A grouped project, nationwide
The project is not a single block of land. Its boundary is Zambia itself, and new planting instances are added within it over time. Removals build slowly as clumps establish, from a few hundred tons in 2019 to a projected peak of roughly 165,000 tons a year in 2028, then taper through to 2036.