Across India, bamboo is often discussed as a fast-growing resource that can support livelihoods, restoration, and new forms of green enterprise. But the question that keeps returning, especially in states such as Odisha, is not whether bamboo holds promise, but how that promise can be realised in ways that strengthen, rather than bypass, village institutions and the Commons they depend on.
This question, sat at the centre, of last month’s National Conference on Bamboo and Medicinal Plants in Bhubaneswar, convened by the Forest and Environment Department of Odisha, the Odisha Bamboo Development Agency (OBDA), and the State Medicinal Plant Board, with support from the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Programme, Government of Odisha.
The conference was part of the State’s broader effort to advance a shared vision of bamboo and medicinal plants towards unlocking green growth, innovation, and livelihoods. The dialogue highlighted Odisha’s inclusive, policy-led approach to strengthen research, value chains, processing, and market linkages.
Sessions featured organisations including the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR), Kerela Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Bamboo Research and Training Centre (BRTC), Konkan Bamboo and Cane Development Centre (KONBAC), Centre for Green Building Materials and Technology (CGBMT), National Institute of Design Bengaluru (NID), Uravu Indigenous Science & Technology Study Centre and Common Ground.
Within this diverse landscape of ideas, one issue stood out: many of the models being advanced still treat ecology, enterprise, and community institutions as separate tracks, even though sustainable bamboo-based economies depend on their alignment. What happens when the push for rapid scale meets the slow, grounded work of restoring landscapes and enabling Gram Sabhas, women’s collectives, and youth groups to govern their resources?
Across the sessions, state agencies, research institutions, and practitioners shared experiences on plantation models, processing and value addition, marketing, and community institutions around bamboo and medicinal plants.
Common Ground contributed to these conversations through a dedicated slot in the programme, sharing how a Bamboo Village approach weaves together three strands that are often treated separately:
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Ecological restoration (bamboo-led restoration of landscapes),
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Local economies (village-based enterprises across craft, construction, bbio-based products, tourism), and
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Social institutions (Gram Sabhas, women’s collectives, youth leadership as custodians).
This framing resonated, particularly in discussions on how to ensure that new investments in bamboo are rooted in community control and local stewardship, rather than becoming only a pathway for just commodity expansion.
What resonated in the Bhubaneswar discussions was a shared recognition that state ambition and village practice need a common rhythm. Common Ground’s presentation sought to bridge Odisha’s state-level ambitions with on-the-ground realities. On one side is the government’s vision of expanding bamboo and medicinal plant-based livelihoods through processing capacity and partnerships. On the other is the lived context of villages, where effective restoration and enterprise depend on empowered Gram Sabhas, Self-Help Groups, customary institutions, and locally adapted ecological mosaics.
Learning from Odisha’s approach
Government of Odisha’s announcements indicated a clear intent to back bamboo and medicinal plants with policy, budgets, and institutional support, including MoUs with knowledge and implementation partners. For us, a key learning was that state-level momentum can be a powerful ally for place-based models like Bamboo Village, especially if there is a shared language on timeframes and outcomes.
At the same time, the way state agencies often work - seeking visible results within short windows - reminds us that any collaboration has to hold two truths together: the need for quick, demonstrable progress and the slower work of rebuilding ecological and social systems.
What’s next in Odisha?
Building on the Bhubaneswar dialogue and ongoing conversations with OBDA, Common Ground is advancing its Bamboo Village work in Odisha. We are in the process of establishing our first Bamboo Village in Koraput district, a region rich in tribal commons, forests, and strong community institutions.
Discussions to position Kalahandi as a model bamboo district with the Bamboo Village Model with an emphasis on federated village clusters that demonstrate scalable governance and enterprise pathways are underway. We are also exploring how to contribute to the evolving Odisha State Bamboo Policy framework, alongside partners including INBAR and CEEW.
These efforts will test how village-led commons management, women- and youth-driven enterprises, and long-term ecological repair can effectively complement state-led MoUs and the National Bamboo Mission.
The Bhubaneswar conference reaffirmed that meaningful scale in bamboo and medicinal plants will emerge where state vision and village stewardship move forward together.
What emerged from the conference is aligned action: where state frameworks create enabling conditions, and village institutions shape how bamboo is grown, harvested, and transformed. If bamboo is to support ecological repair, secure livelihoods, and strengthen local governance, its future lies in the everyday governance of commons by the communities who live with them.