**4. Utilisation of bamboo resources**

Bamboo plays a significant role as a material for consumer products. With its high growth rate, a wide range of applications and renewability, bamboo resources occupy a noteworthy position in the twenty-first century as a versatile and vital raw material [20]. Besides, it is recognised as an industrial raw material globally and has tremendous potentials for economic development of nations [75]. The bamboo potential as an industrial raw material is linked to its agronomical and technological characteristics [2]. Given its proprieties, bamboo continues to be used for the production of new products. The multi-functional ranges of bamboo uses have shown that it may prove beneficial as a valuable and sustainable natural resource [76]. In China, it is the valuable raw material for the booming bamboo industry. Bamboo has been known to find large applications for both food and non-food industries. At present, there are about 3000 companies around the world that are engaged in the production of various bamboobased products [77]. Bamboo provides food, shelter and medicine and serves as raw material for many industries. It has found application in different industrial sectors including civil construction, wood, paper and pulp, textile, electrical and electronics, agriculture and agro-allied, food, chemical and pharmaceutical, reinforcement, automobile and medicine. Some bamboobased products include house construction materials, household items, biofuel, chemical and pharmaceutical products, pulp and paper, irrigation and drainage pipes and textiles materials, panels, flooring materials, charcoal, edible shoots and other daily-use articles [75, 77]. The use of bamboo fibres as reinforcement in composite materials has been immensely amplified with high-tech revolution in recent years. This is as a response to the increasing demand for developing materials that are biodegradable, sustainable and recyclable [15]. Apart from the above, several other applications exist, though on a relatively small scale. For instance, there are some situations where bamboo is used as poles for aerial antenna, electrification, rafters, fishing traps, yam stakes, etc. Ladapo et al. [75] further reported that the current uses of bamboo in Nigeria represent only a fraction of economic activities in the country.

Besides its role as a raw material for consumer products, bamboo has enormous prospects for industrial utilisation and as industrial raw material. Industrial application of bamboo is in the areas highlighted below:
