Guadua: The Advent of a Green Revolution in Antioquia

Abstract

Written by a civil technologist from the Universidad del Quindío and guadua-bamboo researcher, this article presents a comparative history of the development of the guadua value chain between the Coffee Region and Antioquia from the 1960s to 2007. The author documents how Antioquia rejected the government's offer in the 1970s to join the National Guadua Production Chain, resulting in a 25-to-30-year lag compared to departments such as Quindío and Risaralda. The text characterizes the current state of guadua in Antioquia, with only 1,300-1,400 natural hectares dominated by the "Cebolla" variety, and documents the work of the Ecobambusa project in developing a planting-feasibility map for the department.