Introduction
of Jatropha as an Income Generating and Energy Source Project
to household farm holds of Ngara District, TANZANIA
Ngara District – Rulenge Ward is part of
the vast Rulenge Diocese that spans 3 administrative districts (Biharamulo,
Karagwe and Ngara) in the very west of mainland Tanzania. The majority of the
households are small scale subsistence farmers. The average income of rural
households is below 1$ per day. Many constraints contribute to the adverse
household economy, the main being: (a) the negative influence of a refugee
influx presence in the area (from Burundi and Rwanda), (b) the remoteness of
the area in the context of Tanzania and (c) the absence / little export of
agriculture produce to other districts. Sustainable agriculture development
interventions (such as the Jatropha project) are welcomed to alleviate the
people from abject poverty. The Jatropha curcas L plant grows naturally here,
though people are ignorant of the social and economical potential existing in
exploiting the use of this crop altough the benefit of the crop could be
substantial. Several Local Development NGOs have deep rooted existence in the
area. Their agriculture extension infrastructures are available to willingly
take aboard the extension effort required to make farmers adapt production of
this energy source crop.
The objectives of our efforts are:
Item 2 and 3 are part of Rulenge
Vocational Training Centre’s (RVTC’s) activities in promoting appropriate technologies
for sustainable rural development.
ADIP and RVTC
c/o Diocese Rulenge
P.O. Box 50
Rulenge - Ngara , Tanzania
rvtc_mbuba@yahoo.com