Thanks Michael P. for the link to this piece!
Bamboo may prove to be more than the food staple for the giant panda. Considered to be the world's fastest-growing woody plant, it could be a key component in lifting thousands of people in the developing world out of poverty.
According to the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), as many as 1.5 billion people currently "depend in some way on bamboo and rattan," and several organizations are now investigating how growing bamboo in economically deprived areas can boost the income of the residents, particularly small-scale farmers.
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