Jatropha Workshop, Harare - May 1998                                                            by Geoff Oliver

The Workshop, sponsored by Rockefeller Foundation was entitled :

"The Potential of Jatropha Curcas in Rural Development and Environmental Protection - An Exploration".

Delegates from Botswana, Malawi, Mocambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe represented the Region and others from Thailand, Austria, Portugal, Germany and Nicaragua made it something of an international affair.

We were extremely fortunate to have Dr Nicolaus Foidl (Nicaragua) and Reinhard Henning (Germany) presenting papers as these two have to be the most Jatropha-experienced people in the world today and we were able to glean much useful information from them within and outside the Workshop.

The idea of the Workshop was to examine Jatropha in three main areas :

Although it was agreed by all present that for financial reasons Jatropha could not substitute diesel at this time, Carl Bielenberg's paper giving the latest results of his research show that it is technically feasible. He is running his VW Rabbit on pure Jatropha oil.

Some high-tech research on Jatropha-fueled pressure stoves is being conducted at Hohenheim University (Germany). The final stove will look similar to the well known paraffin pressure stove; indeed paraffin may be required for start-up.

There was significant input from the Zimbabwe delegation when our own experiences with Jatropha were aired and discussed. Donald Chakras came up with a long list of basic ingredients into which Jatropha oil can be broken down and which have commercial potential in their own right. He has been tasked with further developing some of these possibilities for the benefit of Jatropha producers.

Giles Guinness of Olivine Industries gave a paper based on their investigations into Jatropha oil in large scale soap manufacturing and confirmed that provided the quality and consistency of supply could be assured, then large quantities of oil could be utilised to replace tallow which is presently imported.

Field Visit : One day of the three day workshop was taken up with a visit to the Makosa area of Mutoko where the Bio-mass Users Network (BUN) are sponsoring a Jatropha project. This project is involved in buying Jatropha beans from the surrounding community and expelling the oil which they sell to the Women's Club.

The women make soap from the oil and sell that through local shops. We were told that this had become a very lucrative project and that expansion necessitated greater quantities of oil than they could obtain from hand operated ram presses. An efficient small motorised screw press was desired. Press-cake from the expelling process was being used as fertiliser on nearby fields and observations showed significant benefits from its use.

More Jatropha was being planted both as hedgerows and in plantations.