Our recent study showed how 20,000 people moved out of poverty in two years in our flagship bamboo project.

We have measured the growth of the bamboo industry centred around Viet Nam's Thanh Hoa Province and shown that this has created significant impact on poverty. We showed that in an area with a population of 400,000, the bamboo industry is transforming the local economy. Between 2004 and 2006:

• Total sector size measured as bamboo income through jobs and bamboo sales grew from USD11M to USD15M
• The farm-gate price for bamboo increased from $11.7/tonne to $14.1/tonne
• The bamboo share of the economy grew from 28% to 34%
• People involved in the bamboo sector make up 61% to 70% of all households

This has taken place in areas where more than 6 out of every 10 people live below the poverty line.

To show how important bamboo is to lifting people out of poverty, we measured and compared the relationship between 'Bamboo households' (i.e. those that have some form of bamboo income in jobs or raw bamboo sales) and 'Non-bamboo households' (i.e. those that have no form of bamboo income).

For the population of 400,000, we were able to demonstrate:

• A net figure of 21,000 people from ‘Bamboo households' moved out of poverty (moved over the national poverty line)
• A net figure of 37,000 people from ‘Non-Bamboo' households moved back into poverty (moved backwards across the poverty line).

This means that bamboo is important in helping people escape poverty. We were able to relate this directly to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) poverty reduction targets.

Prosperity Initiative also measured the poverty gap of poor people, or how much additional income is required for all poor people in the population to bring them up to the poverty line, which in Viet Nam is $150 per person per year income. Over the same period, the poverty gap for the poor people of the 400,000 population (around 240,000) was in total $11.9M. This poverty gap reduced to 9.9M.

We are able to use these figures and data gathered from the field to determine the impact on poverty of future price rises. Overall, as the price tracks towards 80% of the current price in China for raw bamboo, an effect we will bring about by helping businesses and governments develop the sector, around 250,000 are expected to be lifted out of poverty. Prosperity Initiative expects to invest around $15M in achieving this goal at a cost of around $60 per person out of poverty.

2008 Thanh Hoa Bamboo Impact Assessment Report (pdf, 772kb)