|
How a Biofuel =
'Miracle' Ruined=20
Kenyan Farmers
Everyone in Kibwezi, a =
village in=20
southeastern Kenya parched by four years of drought, =
remembers=20
the promises. It all started in 2000, when the =
government=20
started preaching the
word about a
plant called =
jatropha curcas.
That surprised people =
in Kibwezi=20
because everyone already knew about Jatropha =97 it's =
a weed.=20
Sometimes people planted it to fence off their farms, =
but=20
usually they just ignored it.
Kenyan market=20
vendors selling maize in Kagemi .
The government told =
the=20
farmers, however, that jatropha seeds can be pressed =
to make=20
biofuel and that scientists believed the plant's seeds =
contained more oil than other biofuel crops. Even =
better, the=20
government said, jatropha needed little tending. All =
you had=20
to do was stick it in the ground and watch it grow. =
Best of=20
all for Kibwezi, a place that's frequently stricken by =
drought, scientists believed that the plant thrived on =
arid=20
land. Convinced they could reap large profits from the =
plant=20
in the global craze for alternative energy sources, =
hundreds=20
of farmers turned over acres of their small farms to =
jatropha.=20
But it didn't take them long to realize what =
scientists have=20
come to realize in recent months: what was once touted =
as a=20
miracle plant that needed almost no water has turned =
out to be=20
anything but that.
|
| |
Peter Munyao, a village =
elder, is=20
one of the farmers who experimented with the new crop. =
He=20
planted jatropha in 2006 and encouraged other farmers =
to=20
follow his lead. But today, the plants on his farm =
have all=20
dried up and lost their seeds and leaves. "The people =
who did=20
the promotion for jatropha had not done [their] =
research ...=20
because we have realized that the crop is getting =
moisture=20
stress just like any other crop," he says. A study =
published=20
in June in the Proceedings of the National Academy of=20
Sciences, a Washington-based scientific journal, found =
that=20
jatropha actually requires more water per liter of =
biofuel=20
produced than most other biofuel plants. That's bad =
news in=20
Kenya, a country in the middle of a full-blown food =
crisis due=20
to the lengthy drought. The World Food Program said in =
August=20
that 3.8 million Kenyans had been affected by the =
drought and=20
that malnutrition was on the rise.
Kenya isn't =
the=20
only country that's gotten caught up in the excitement =
over=20
jatropha. Last December, an Air New Zealand jet =
powered by a=20
jatropha/kerosene blend made a successful test flight. =
China,=20
Brazil and even Myanmar have promoted it heavily, =
sometimes=20
forcing farmers to plant it. In India, jatropha has =
been=20
planted on hundreds of thousands of acres of land. =
But, like=20
the farmers in Kibwezi, farmers in these other =
countries have=20
also experienced problems growing the plant. In India, =
for=20
example, a test project at several agricultural =
colleges=20
produced seed yields of only 200 grams per plant =97 a =
fifth the=20
expected output of one kilogram of seeds per plant. =
(Read:=20
"Biofuel Gone Bad: Burma's Atrophying =
Jatropha.")
David=20
Newman, who runs the Nairobi-based biofuels =
consultancy=20
Endelevu Energy, says there have been isolated =
examples of=20
success growing jatropha. "Occasionally a tree has =
survived in=20
a marginal area and produces quite a bit of seed with =
no=20
[agricultural] inputs whatsoever. But there's a =
difference=20
between that one tree and replicating it thousands of =
times in=20
the field," he says. The problem with jatropha, =
scientists=20
say, is that there is no proven, widely disseminated =
method=20
for growing it properly.
In the absence of =
reliable=20
information, the farmers in Kenya were fed mistruths =
about the=20
plant and its biofuel potential by nongovernmental=20
organizations and the government, which got much of =
their=20
information from the Internet. The farmers said they =
were=20
persuaded to buy so-called "certified" jatropha seeds, =
which=20
were said to grow in tough conditions. They were also =
told=20
they would be given advice on how to plant their =
fields and=20
that once the plants began to produce seeds, =
agricultural=20
officials would buy them at prices upwards of 1,000 =
shillings=20
($13) per kilogram. Farmers were also told that demand =
would=20
increase steadily for the oil produced by the seeds. =
(See=20
pictures of oil.)
The problem is, none of those =
promises came to be. "It was a combination of =
international=20
hype and local organizations who were ... selling =
seeds at=20
very high prices claiming that they were special =
certified=20
seeds when really they were just seeds collected from =
old=20
trees in the wild," Newman says. The plants also did =
not do=20
well in arid conditions. "[The plant] was more =
fragile,=20
especially in its initial establishment phase, than we =
thought," says Jan Van den Abeele, executive director =
for=20
Better Globe Forestry, a Nairobi-based group that =
studies=20
optimal conditions for planting trees in dry areas. =
And many=20
farmers had no buyers for their seeds. Some began =
giving them=20
away to neighbors.
Farmers in Kibwezi quickly =
realized=20
that they would have to throw out the rulebook to make =
their=20
crops grow. Boniface Muoki's jatropha plants look like =
they're=20
doing well =97 they're covered with thick green leaves =
and=20
fruit. But Muoki says he did almost nothing the =
government=20
experts told him to Do =97 instead, he planted the =
seedlings in=20
meter-deep holes so that they would collect more =
rainwater and=20
he tends the plants fastidiously. "It's the farmer who =
knows=20
best," Muoki says. "At this point, I know more about =
jatropha=20
than most anyone because it's me who experienced =
jatropha=20
every day, who has seen how the plant behaves in =
varied=20
conditions."
(Read: "Can Airplanes Fly on=20
Biofuel?")
The problems haven't discouraged =
other=20
jatropha proponents, either. For several years, Titus =
Kisavi=20
traveled the region encouraging farmers to grow the =
plant,=20
earning a commission from development groups for the =
seeds he=20
sold. These days, however, he doesn't have a job and =
he spends=20
his afternoons at a bar near Kibwezi. Still, he hasn't =
given=20
up on the plant. "I have a very big passion for =
jatropha,"=20
Kisavi said. "I visit farmers and tell them to plant =
it in the=20
hope that one day ... somebody will come to the farms =
and sign=20
contracts for the seed. We know one day that jatropha =
will be=20
in very high demand.
Courtesy: TIME
|
=
|
![3D"Pakissan.com](3D"http://www.pakissan.com/images/banner/images/pakissan.jpg"=20)
![3D"Pakissan.com](3D"http://www.pakissan.com/images/banner/images/urdulogo.jpg"=20)
![3D""=20](3D"http://www.pakissan.com/images/1.gif")