About us

Sustainable Harvesting

Ensuring the Future of Bamboo Ecosystems

Kontiki Bamboo Works Ltd (KBWL) is part of Kontiki Uganda Ltd where the majority shareholders have set up a bamboo commercial growing and industrial value addition. The project is in Hoima district specifically in the central core of the Albertine graben area with a potentially worth USD 300,000 per year and capable of creating over 50,000 new jobs in the next 10 years. KBWL is a market driven initiative designed to function effectively in a rapidly evolving market place. Its success relies on being able to respond to opportunities and threats as they emerge.

Our objectives

KBWL’s objective is to sustainably add value addition to bamboo and reduce poverty scale by creating income and jobs in the sub region and the country at large through working with partners both at: 1) local level on expanding and intensifying bamboo production by small scale farmers to meet the demand of the processing industry, businesses and supply chain projects, and; 2) national and international levels on sector wide and strategic issues of importance to all engaged in the development of the bamboo sector.

Work will be across the areas of:

Businesses and Markets:

Create business of the bamboo at all levels starting with information dissemination, seedlings, planting, advise, buying bamboo from farmers and creating bamboo value addition, technology and management transfer, business services and information, international and domestic business facilitation, trade fairs;

Farmers and Resources

To support smallholders to produce bamboo efficiently and competitively in the market by training, field trials and agricultural development.

Value addition

To increase the value of raw bamboo at community level, upgraded bamboo chain proposes to establish primary processing center at local level. Sorting, grading, treatment and primary processing of bamboo can add much value to the raw bamboo thus ultimately benefiting the local community.

Tourism activities

Bamboo Forest ecotourism has broad market prospects and a strong development momentum. Bamboo plantations will be developed as sightseeing and leisure, tourist attraction for trekking, nature walk, camping and for biodiversity.

ADVISORY BOARD TEAM

Kontiki Bamboo Works Ltd has an advisory board consisting of maximum 6 members. The members have expertise and specialized knowledge corresponding to the scale and importance of their duties. The Board members are elected by the directors and their term of office is 3 years and they are eligible for reappointments.The advisory board meets 4 times a year and has the task to support and advise the office and the board of directors professionally. All the advisory board members are involved in bamboo growing promotion, skills, capacity building and marketing

Mrs. Florence N. Mawejje

Chairperson

Florence is a highly experienced Human Resource Management and Development professional with 25 years of Corporate Executive experience. She has a strong background in managing investment fund schemes and serving as a Non-Executive Director on Boards. Florence has been instrumental in bringing value to organizations through her roles as Chairperson/Key Member of various Board committees, focusing on People, Culture & Change, Remuneration, and Staff Affairs & Corporate Affairs. She has worked across diverse sectors, including Finance, Banking, Telecommunications, Technology, FMCGs, Clean Energy, Manufacturing, and NGOs, in multiple countries. Florence has also played a significant role in building and scaling companies, such as Centenary Bank and MTN Uganda. She is recognized for her strategic and innovative capabilities and has received awards and accolades for her contributions to the field of Human Resource Management. Florence has undergone training in corporate governance and regulatory frameworks and holds an MSc degree in Human Resource Development and an Executive MBA in Corporate Governance & Strategic Management.

Dr. Eng. Katahoire Abel (Bsc,Msc, PhD)

Dr. Abel Katahoire is the Chairman of the Board for Multi Konsult Engineers and Planners, an electrical and engineering consulting firm based in Kampala, Uganda. The company, established in 1981 as a partnership and later transformed into a limited company in 2004, has been at the forefront of computerizing technical operations, utilizing tools like AUTOCAD for efficient design and documentation of electrical and mechanical engineering building services. With a dedicated and experienced team, the firm has achieved rapid growth and earned a reputation for delivering work promptly and accurately to clients. Dr. Katahoire has a rich professional background, serving as the Past President of the Ugandan Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE) and as a former Board Member/Secretary of the Engineers Registration Board (ERB). Additionally, he served as the Chairman of the Board of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) from 2008 to 2014 and held the position of Honorary Ambassador for the Slovak Republic from 2004 to 2008.

Rev. Fr. Agapitus Hector Dr. Businge

Rev.Fr Dr Agaptus Businge is a PhD holder specializing in Evagelization which he obtained at the Catholic University of America, Washington, in 2019. He is the Director of Lay Apostolate Commission and Chairperson of Board of Governors of St James Senior Secondary School, Bujumbur Hoima and Director for St John Bosco. He has published six booksThrough my close interaction with Kontiki Bamboo works Ltd, I welcomed the wisdom to engage in growing bamboo for a livelihood in 2019. Starting with 7 acres, I plan to become a respected bamboo out grower. His slogan is Bamboo growing, unleashing limitless financial confidence.

Mr. Teddy Sondota (TMS RUGE)

Teddy Sondata Ruge is a visionary entrepreneur and creative professional with a passion for sustainable development and social impact. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas, USA, and is the founder and CEO of Raintree Farms, a successful social enterprise based in Uganda since 2015. Raintree Farms focuses on the sustainable cultivation and processing of medicinal crops, particularly moringa oleifera, with organic certification. The company collaborates with partner farmers to export high-quality moringa products globally.

Mr Foster Siaw

Mr. Foster Siaw is a teacher by profession and now sole Proprietor of Genuine bamboo Company based in Accra, Ghana. He manufacturers bamboo mugs, flasks, containers, key holders and souvenirs for local and export market oversees. His startup bamboo enterprise received support and benefited from the Inter-Africa Bamboo Smallholder Farmers Livelihood Development Programme funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and also supported by China-IFAD South-South Triangular Cooperation.he has been instrumental in training of bamboo making mugs to Kontiki Bamboo Works Ltd. He is an active member of the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization INBAR and participated in various bamboo training in Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya

Mr. Derrick Miller

Mr. Derrick Miller is based in New York in the USA and has been a Project Manager for the last 25 years at The New York City Transit Authority doing project inspections for contract compliance. He is current Board Member and founder of Seeds of Success which is a grass roots organisation intended to improve and enrich the lives of the people of Africa. We are currently doing interventions in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp and we are making great progress. I have been the only person funding our operations without any helpHe is currently renovating a school in the Teso region in Eastern Uganda where we will be providing education and vocational training for the surrounding villages with the hopes of starting a micro economy where people can be employed based on the skills that they learn and this will improve the quality of life of the people.He also has two business partners in Sierra Leone andthey have a farm and we will be producing palm oil and palm kernel oil among other value-added products in the future.It is My wish and intention to help teach young Africans the importance of value addition to improve the lives of future African generations to come and we have a unique opportunity at Kontiki Bamboo Works Ltd to help make this dream become a reality!! Thanks for this great invite and opportunity!

The Bamboo Industry

Uganda now has a new 10-year National Bamboo Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2029.The strategy is in line with international obligations to which Uganda is a signatory, like the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, as well as with national policies and planning frameworks such as the Uganda Vision 2040, the Uganda Forestry Policy 2001, The National Forest plan 2012, the National Land Use Policy 2013 and the National Energy Policy 2002. This strategy will go a long way in redeeming the bamboo industry and restore forests and create jobs.

Kontiki Bamboo Works Ltd has an established bamboo nursery (production capacity of 100,000) of which it intends to plant seedling every year. Kontiki bamboo works has currently 300 areas of bamboo planted since October 2017) and continues to plant and will also involve contract farmers and communities starting with March 2021. Uganda is blessed with abundant forest reserve of the bamboo material in West Nile (Phaida, Moyo,Lamwo, Kitgum, Abim districts) of which we shall be able to buy from farmers and also get license to sustainably harvest the bamboo from the National Forest Authority(NFA).