Plant oil might yet help fuel Namibia’s future

A HUMBLE shrub might provide a solution for some of Namibia’s fuel price woes and earn income for rural people and commercial farmers alike.

The oil extracted from the nuts of the Jatropha curcas bush can be added to normal diesel on a large scale and can be used by farmers to run their tractors and generators. It might also replace paraffin, which is used by some 70 per cent of the Namibian population for cooking and lighting.Plans have already progressed to the stage that a Bio-Oil Energy Committee has been established under the auspices of the Namibian Agronomic Board to see to it that about 63 000 hectares of Jatropha curcas can be planted by 2013 to earn this new agro-industry N$189 million a year.A team of consultants from Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe completed a study over two months and a workshop was held last month to discuss an action plan.”This plan will support the poverty-reduction strategy of the Government and complement Vision 2030,” said Fred Kruger, one of the experts, who presented the findings of the study.The Jatropha shrub is an alien species but is known to have grown in Namibia for 100 years.Many villagers and communal farmers grow it as a hedge around livestock kraals because animals don’t eat it.However, the use of the oil from the Jatropha nut is hardly known locally.”Rural people save money for fences when they plant Jatropha hedges and they could plant a few more rows of the plant and earn extra income once the bio-oil project unfolds by selling the harvested nuts,” Christof Brock, the Chief Executive Officer of the Namibian Agronomic Board, told The Namibian.”We want to get rural people on board and farmers from the communal and the commercial sector,” he added.”We will also address resettlement farmers.”Fuel consumption in Namibia last year amounted to 870 million litres, 52 per cent being diesel and 44 per cent petrol, according to the study.The remaining 4 per cent consisted of paraffin (4,6 million litres), heavy fuel oil and jet fuel for aeroplanes.All fuels are imported, mainly from South Africa.Germany already blends five per cent of bio-oil with diesel, mainly with canola oil (rapeseed oil).In southern Africa this can be done with Jatropha oil.Zimbabwe has 20 years of experience with Jatropha curcas and has 4 000 hectares under cultivation.The potential market in Namibia for bio-oil that could be blended locally with diesel is 22,7 million litres a year.”Another possibility to expand Jatropha oil production, is to dedicate the vehicle fleets of the Government to bio-diesel consumption,” according to Brock.”Quite a few farmers in Namibia are already replacing the expensive diesel with Jatropha oil on their farms to save costs,” he added.The north-east and the maize triangle near Otavi were found suitable for Jatropha cultivation.Some forest areas in the Caprivi and Okavango have been degraded, and could be partly rehabilitated with Jatropha plants.The plants do not require irrigation, and nuts can be harvested in the third year after planting.Small hand-operated oil presses are available in neighbouring countries, and could be sold at subsidised prices to villagers to produce their own oil.In a raw state, the oil can be used in simple, hand-made wick lamps, which is much cheaper than paraffin.In Tanzania, cooking stoves fuelled with Jatropha oil are being designed.Another spin-off at village level could be soap production from Jatropha oil.Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are also embarking on a regional strategy to use bio-fuels like Jatropha, maize and sugar on a larger scale.The SADC Secretariat has commissioned experts to map out how to do this, with a view to increasing income for rural agriculture and beating petrol and diesel price increases.In Malawi, an ethanol plant fed with sugar cane waste has been in operation for 25 years.The newly established National Bio-Oil Committee (Nabec) consists of Government officials from several ministries, entrepreneurs and the agricultural sector.It will soon appoint a fulltime officer to steer the project.Nabec has decided to have Jatropha curcas and, if necessary, other bio-oil crops gazetted in terms of the Agronomic Industry Act of 1992.This would include an agreement in terms of which producers and processors of bio-oil would have to pay levies to cover the project’s administration costs once sizeable crops are harvested in about three years’ time.The committee further agreed that appropriate regulations of liquid-fuel standards in terms of the Petroleum Products Act should be gazetted.Copies of the final report are available at the Namibian Agronomic Board for a nominal fee.It might also replace paraffin, which is used by some 70 per cent of the Namibian population for cooking and lighting.Plans have already progressed to the stage that a Bio-Oil Energy Committee has been established under the auspices of the Namibian Agronomic Board to see to it that about 63 000 hectares of Jatropha curcas can be planted by 2013 to earn this new agro-industry N$189 million a year. A team of consultants from Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe completed a study over two months and a workshop was held last month to discuss an action plan.”This plan will support the poverty-reduction strategy of the Government and complement Vision 2030,” said Fred Kruger, one of the experts, who presented the findings of the study. The Jatropha shrub is an alien species but is known to have grown in Namibia for 100 years.Many villagers and communal farmers grow it as a hedge around livestock kraals because animals don’t eat it.However, the use of the oil from the Jatropha nut is hardly known locally.”Rural people save money for fences when they plant Jatropha hedges and they could plant a few more rows of the plant and earn extra income once the bio-oil project unfolds by selling the harvested nuts,” Christof Brock, the Chief Executive Officer of the Namibian Agronomic Board, told The Namibian.”We want to get rural people on board and farmers from the communal and the commercial sector,” he added.”We will also address resettlement farmers.”Fuel consumption in Namibia last year amounted to 870 million litres, 52 per cent being diesel and 44 per cent petrol, according to the study.The remaining 4 per cent consisted of paraffin (4,6 million litres), heavy fuel oil and jet fuel for aeroplanes.All fuels are imported, mainly from South Africa.Germany already blends five per cent of bio-oil with diesel, mainly with canola oil (rapeseed oil).In southern Africa this can be done with Jatropha oil.Zimbabwe has 20 years of experience with Jatropha curcas and has 4 000 hectares under cultivation.The potential market in Namibia for bio-oil that could be blended locally with diesel is 22,7 million litres a year.”Another possibility to expand Jatropha oil production, is to dedicate the vehicle fleets of the Government to bio-diesel consumption,” according to Brock.”Quite a few farmers in Namibia are already replacing the expensive diesel with Jatropha oil on their farms to save costs,” he added. The north-east and the maize triangle near Otavi were found suitable for Jatropha cultivation.Some forest areas in the Caprivi and Okavango have been degraded, and could be partly rehabilitated with Jatropha plants.The plants do not require irrigation, and nuts can be harvested in the third year after planting.Small hand-operated oil presses are available in neighbouring countries, and could be sold at subsidised prices to villagers to produce their own oil.In a raw state, the oil can be used in simple, hand-made wick lamps, which is much cheaper than paraffin.In Tanzania, cooking stoves fuelled with Jatropha oil are being designed.Another spin-off at village level could be soap production from Jatropha oil.Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are also embarking on a regional strategy to use bio-fuels like Jatropha, maize and sugar on a larger scale.The SADC Secretariat has commissioned experts to map out how to do this, with a view to increasing income for rural agriculture and beating petrol and diesel price increases.In Malawi, an ethanol plant fed with sugar cane waste has been in operation for 25 years.The newly established National Bio-Oil Committee (Nabec) consists of Government officials from several ministries, entrepreneurs and the agricultural sector.It will soon appoint a fulltime officer to steer the project.Nabec has decided to have Jatropha curcas and, if necessary, other bio-oil crops gazetted in terms of the Agronomic Industry Act of 1992.This would include an agreement in terms of which producers and processors of bio-oil would have to pay levies to cover the project’s administration costs once sizeable crops are harvested in about three years’ time.The committee further agreed that appropriate regulations of liquid-fuel standards in terms of the Petroleum Products Act should be gazetted.Copies of the final report are available at the Namibian Agronomic Board for a nominal fee.