Jamaica sees an opportunity in bamboo.
The tropical island country hopes to start a local bamboo industry to capitalize on the plant's expanding popularity in flooring, furniture and other household applications.
Minister of State Sharon Ffolkes Abrahams told the Associated Press that plans call for bamboo factories to be built in four areas. Jamaica already has an estimated 47,000 hectares of the plant, which is not native to the Caribbean country.
Abrahams said the country's resources of bamboo and underdeveloped lands provide "significant potential for economic advancement through job creation and poverty reduction."
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