Toothpick is a short pointed piece of wood used for removing bits or particles of food glued or attached unto the teeth after meals.
The market for toothpicks is very large in Nigeria and cuts across all income groups; even the poor can afford to purchase a can of it from time to time given the relative cheapness of the product. In order to further develop the market, the environmentally friendly nature of using bamboos to produce toothpicks could be stressed.
Toothpicks can be made with different types of wood but the best source is the relatively soft, not particularly dense variety of bamboo wood. Bamboo is a renewable plant resource that can be harvested annually and if cultivated well produces a known yield per unit area. This makes it ideal for supplying regular inputs of raw materials required by the factory.
They are produced by splitting bamboo culms into thin shapes, which are further split into circular rods about 2mm in diameter. These are then cut to length, polished and the ends sharpened.
A bamboo toothpick-manufacturing unit can provide employment opportunities to a range of people. The cottage unit considered here will employ about twenty (24) persons and more employment will be generated in its forward and backward linkages, such as seasonal cultivation and harvesting of a bamboo forest plantation, and at the marketing and retailing end. This will make some impact in these times of continuing unemployment. The production of bamboo toothpicks on the small and medium scale is an effective way of utilizing renewable bamboo resources, providing income generating opportunities for rural people, empowering individuals and communities with knowledge and experience, and developing the economies of poor rural communities on a sustainable basis.
The need for substantial quantities of raw bamboo will encourage the sustainable management of bamboo plantations, which can easily be intercropped with food crops in order to boost the food security of the rural poor that grow them. Bamboos are renewable, can be harvested annually and are an ideal source of softwood for light uses such as toothpicks. The productivity of sympodial bamboos (clump-forming types) is much higher than monopodial bamboos (running bamboos) and for this reason, only toothpicks made from sympodial bamboos are considered in this outline. The technology is especially suitable for areas where soil erosion is a problem, as the planting of bamboos to supply the unit can greatly reduce erosion. Planting bamboos can also restore degraded lands, such as abandoned shifting cultivation plots, and bring them back into productivity.
In broader terms, the essential requirements for a successful bamboo toothpick-manufacturing unit are:
• Initial capital investment;
• A regular supply of bamboos as raw material;
• Secured, trained workforce;
• Sufficient markets;
Particularly, the establishment of a toothpick factory requires not only the regular supply of bamboos but also electric power which can be supplied by generators, labour and access to markets.
As a small-scale enterprise a toothpick-manufacturing unit may be eligible for development grants or other incentives from the government.
The technology has strong forward and backward linkages and its implementation will benefit a wide range of people involved in all stages of toothpick production. In a new location it is preferable to implement the technology with the support of state agencies, NGO’s or private enterprises to ensure the linkages are properly in place. The establishment of a local or regional marketing agency for toothpicks may also be beneficial in developing the markets and guaranteeing the continued and focused expansion of the factory.
Bamboo toothpicks are produced by the following basic steps
• Cutting of culms into shorter sections;
• Splitting culms and sectioning into thin, round rods 2 mm in diameter;
• Drying rods;
• Rolling rods to smooth the surface;
• Sectioning rods to toothpick length (usually 65-70 mm);
• Polishing;
• End-sharpening;
• Sorting;
• Checking;
• Packing;
In greater details, the production process is as follows:
• Culms may be sectioned by hand or by using a cross-cutting machine. It is necessary to remove nodes at or very close to either end of a section as they hinder proper splitting;
• The sections are then split longitudinally into splits of approximately equal width in the splitting machine;
• Each split is then passed through a rod making machine that produces fine round threads of bamboo the same thickness as the eventual toothpick (usually 2mm). The machine also removes the outer green layer of the culm that is still attached to the split. However, the use of just one machine to produce rods from splits is relatively wasteful of bamboo wood. Productivity per culm is higher if the splits are passed through a series of machines, each of which produces splits of successively smaller diameter. However, if this were so, the capital investment and running costs would increase;
• The bamboo rods are then left in the sunshine to dry;
• The rods are soaked in the bleaching agent for 15 minutes and then piled together to allow further penetration of the bleaching agent. They should be covered with plastic sheet to protect them from rain.
• After drying the rods are cut to toothpick length. The cutting machine has an exposed blade and appropriate care should be taken to avoid injury.
• The toothpicks are then placed in the polishing machine.
• The ends of the toothpicks are then sharpened in the end-sharpening machine. In the case of single-ended toothpicks, other machines are available that engrave patterns or rings in the blunt end for decoration.
• Finally the toothpicks are placed in the grinding machine to finish them off.
The toothpicks are finally sorted into batches and substandard ones removed. They are packed at the unit into packages of up to 200 toothpicks, using the unit’s own packaging style. This ensures greater brand recognition and offers greater opportunities for market penetration.
The core machinery cost profile of a cottage plant for toothpick production, valued at FOB terms in US$, is stated in the table below.
| Machine components | Approximate costs (USD) |
| Cross cutting machine | 360 |
| Splitting machine | 2,350 |
| Rod-making machine | 3,000 |
| Toothpick cutting machine (2) | 200 |
| Polishing machine | 180 |
| End-sharpening machine (2) | 750 |
| Grinder | 145 |
| Total | 6,985 |
Details of the variable and other overhead costs plus costs of other allied capital and utility items, equipment sources, procurement modalities, regulatory guidelines, market channels and links, strategies employed by existing operators, technical partnership, profitability projections, available finance options, overall project viability, etc., will be provided in a comprehensive feasibility report for prospective interested investors.
The writer could via his email address:chukwudiodili902@yahoo.com
