Bamboo team wins top prize and plans partnership with ABC

The finals of the “Africa Bridge” Youth Maker Challenge took place on 21 September 2026 at Shandong Normal University’s Qianfoshan campus. The Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and the Shandong Provincial Department of Education jointly organised the competition, which Shandong Normal University hosted. The Bamboo for Uganda team from Shandong Agricultural University won a top prize.

Guided by Professor Cao Banghua and Pang Yuanxiang, the team developed a proposal for a gold mine tailings site in Mukono. It proposes assessing and improving the soil, selecting bamboo species suited to local conditions and establishing a demonstration bamboo plot, a nursery and small-scale processing facilities. The proposal also explores how cooperatives could involve nearby farmers in nursery work and planting.

AFRIDGE, a founding organisation of Africane Bambusa Consortium (ABC), will help connect the winning proposal with bamboo development and land restoration needs in Uganda. The award-winning team will sign a cooperation agreement with ABC and provide technical guidance on bamboo species selection, seedling production, trial plot design and monitoring. ABC and the team will use site conditions to refine the pilot plan.