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You Are Here: Home » General News, Second Lead » Friends of the Earth kicks against Jatropha production in Africa
The Chairman of Friends of the Earth (FOE), Ghana, a non-governmental environmental organisation, has challenged African leaders to kick against attempts by the West, to use the Jatropha plant and agricultural-based renewable energy generation alternatives, at the expense of food production.
Mr Nnimmo Bassey stressed: “The time has come for our political leaders, to make a firm decision on moves by the advanced countries, to scramble for so called marginal lands for the cultivation of Jatropha and other crops for bio fuel.”
Speaking at a day’s workshop in Accra, on Thursday, Mr Bassey urged African countries, to resist the “sugar coated” decision, since it would further deepen the continent’s food and water crises, sanitation problems, poverty and land tenure difficulties.
The workshop was a side event organised by FOE to “discuss challenges pertaining to biofuel development,” “myth of marginal land right” and “global food crisis, policy option for Africa”.
Mr Bassey said: “The drive for biofuel is one of the major factors that have contributed to food crisis worldwide, between 2008 and 2009. This came about because five per cent of grains, which can feed a village for a year were used to fuel machines.”
He cited an example in Swaziland, where a company called D 1 Oils Jatropha, convinced local farmers to cultivate the plant because it does not need plenty water to thrive.
Mr Bassey said the farmers who took the bait, later found out that they had to water the plant on regular basis.
“For a continent that has water shortage this is surely an avoidable problem.”
He said the time had come for the continent to explore other sources of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.
Ms Cheryl Agyepong, Programme Co-ordinator of FOE said the drive for biofuels as alternative renewable energy had increased as the world was running short of fossil resources.
She said currently, the European Union had set a mandatory target of about five per cent of motor fuel from biofuels by 2010, while the US was aiming at 28.4 billion litres of the energy by 2012.
Ms Agyepong said the notion by Europeans that Africa and Asia had vast marginal lands for the cultivation of Jatropha was not true.
She said in 2008, a senior World Bank economist in a report stated that biofuels accounted for 75 per cent of food price increases globally.
Ms Agyepong expressed worry about several biofuel plantations that have been earmarked for Africa, where the people are suffering from food insecurity.
Source: GNA
There is enough land in Ghana for food crop and cash crop production.
This whole issue bores down to effective use of land.
Well well well..lets start cutting down the 1 million HA of cocoa trees we grown and export 99% to the west and grow corn to feed ourselves. Such misplaced comments.
“For a continent that has water shortage this is surely an avoidable problem.”
Who is this Guy..who said Africa has a shortage of water..clean water maybe..but who uses clean drinking water for plantation …
Yes
it is true. Jartopha production in lagre scale will definitely the ‘crime against humanity’ as said. Food prises has risen up dramatically very high in a past couple of years only due to high production of biofuel plants .
if so why are commodity prices falling so rapidly even though jatropha cultivation is on the increase. You cannot rely on imported food and expect when fuel prices triple you will not be affected . Increases in wheat prices was not due to jatropha as main producers of wheat are NOT in the tropic zones where jatropha is being promoted.
Investors are being targeted to invest in jatropha production. Publicize the fors and againsts of it’s production, quickly!
In South Africa today, there are huge tracks of land which have already set aside for bio fuel production. What makes the matters worse is the fact that these are sugarcane plantations-sugar which could be used as food but due to the pressure from the west, this sugar is turned into a source of bio fuel. In rural Ganze, Kilifi District in Coastal Kenya where i was born and where hunger has become a talk of the day for very many years, people now think jatropha farming is the only way out of this problem. Supporters of this project are not informed at all. We have to stop this and i join this campaign. I have been at the forefront of organizing community members to stage up a campaign against this ‘innovation’. …….I would like to hear more from FOE on the how best i could intensify this campaingn to other parts of the region where some huge portions of land have been identified for the same project.
I think we have to examine every country Situation.Take sudan ,is suitable for Jatropha..Pleanty of Land for everyone.Enough supply of Water.If agood jatropha Project is Implemented..it can do miracle to the land,halt Desert incroachment,Halt soil errosion,Create employment and badly needed Fuel(oil from jatropha)to local
Pumps..as well for Export.,employment.Iam sure everyone will benefit.Not to forget Can sell Carbon Credit.So Sudan is an exceptional,let Friend of the earth look at sudan,before making thier comment
what are the results of the latest investigations about jatropha planting in land with salty underground water.
if it can grow in Nigeria why not we have enough uncultivated land in the north so?we don’t have to wait for govt as usual,why discourage us when any body can do it and have food on table.
Look 70% of the land in pakistan and india with watersupply and everyother facility is uncultivated why not use it for jatropha