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In Kenya especially the arid and semi-arid areas, scenes of idle land are common. These pieces of land are deemed unproductive.
In Kenya especially the arid and semi-arid areas, scenes of idle land are common. These pieces of land are deemed unproductive. Yet poverty still looms in these areas, with no food to eat. Farmers in these areas are discouraged and are tired of reaping nothing from what they sow. Interestingly, they are always ready to try out new ideas. Whatever they are told to grow, they will do it so long they are assured of ready market.
Many are the times when farmers have been told to grow a particular crop just to end up uprooting them. There are several cases where farmers in some regions in Kenya have been told to grow sugar cane, and that a factory would be put up in the area, but this never happens. What do they do? They sell sugar cane to the local markets at a throw-away price or they manufacture nguru (brown Sugar) for the local market.
In other instances, some crops have been grown and factories that process the crops later shut down, like in the case of cotton. When cotton industries were still thriving in Kenya, farmers were growing cotton on large scale. But the factories later shut down forcing the farmers to uproot all the cotton.
In Homabay, Kenya, organizations have introduced Africa Bird’s Eye Chili since Mace Foods Co. Ltd is buying the chili. If Mace Foods closes down, the farmers will be left to ponder their next move. To the local farmers, the main reason they are growing chili is because Mace Foods is buying the chili.
Currently, so much is being said about jatropha and its potential to produce agro-fuel. Because of their trust, farmers will grow jatropha if they are told to, so long as there is a buyer. Jatropha has more than 1,600 uses and being a drought resistant crop, it does well in arid and semi-arid areas. Some of the uses of jatropha are:
•The seeds contain (50% by weight) viscous oil, which can be used for manufacture of candles and soap and also in the cosmetics industry.
•It can be used to reclaim eroded areas.
•It can be grown as a boundary fence or live hedge.
•The wood and fruit of Jatropha can be used for numerous purposes including fuel.
•It’s also medicinal plant.
•It can be used for lighting by itself or as a diesel/paraffin substitute or extender.
Recent discussions however, centre on the last use, production of diesel. It is true that in Kenya for instance, we are spending lots of money on importing petroleum. Petroleum alone accounts for almost 22 percent of Kenya’s imports. Yet jatropha can meet the demand for rural energy services and also exploring practical substitutes for fossil fuels to counter greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere. Jatropha can also be an answer to those in arid and semi-arid areas that are deemed not to be agriculturally productive. Question is, are we ready to go this direction? Has enough research on jatropha been done? Do we have enough processing plants that would process all the jatropha produced by farmers? Are we considering the issues of climate change and the environment? If these questions are answered, then we will avoid cases of uprooting the already grown jatropha. Let’s give hope to farmers.
