Acheni kulima miwa ya mafuta, limeni chakula!

[Kinyambiss]

kwanini wasilime vyote since people need energy and food...

 

[Kibunango]

Suala la ruzuku kwa wakulima naona halija jadiriwa hapa... kuna tofauti kubwa kati ya mkulima wa Tz na ulaya katika ruzuku na ndio maana wakulima wengi wa Tz badala ya kwenda mbele kimafanikio wamekuwa wakirudi nyuma. Kwa upande mwingine ni vigumu kwa wakulima wa Tz kupenya katika soko la kimataifa kutokana na viwango vilivyopo katika uzalishaji na mazao ya vyakula, ambapo asasi zinazo simamia viwango hivyo ni za huko huko majuu.

Kasoro hizo kwa namna moja ama nyingine zinatoa nafasi kubwa kwa mashirika ya kigeni kuweza kutumia ardhi yetu kwa kilimo kiwe kwa ajili ya energy au vyakula.

Zaidi makampuni mengi ya kilimo yatazidi kuingia katika nchi zenye mfumo wa kilimo kama Tz, ili waweze kuzalisha mazao kwa ajili ya mafuta. Hii inatokana na sheria mpya ya Mazingira ya EU ambayo imeyataka makampuni ya kutengerneza magari katika Ulaya yenye viwango vidogo vya utoaji wa CO2 kuanzia mwaka 2012.

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Hongera san Mzee MJJ naona hoja yako muhimu imemfikia hata Mkuu Kofi Annan

Asante mzee... lakini viongozi wetu wa TAnzania hawawezi kufikiri hiki tunachosema watafikiri tunawaonea wivu au tunawanyima "kula" yao. Lakini ngoja mzungu aje na kuwaambia utashangaa..!

 

[Gaijin]

tatizo la viongozi wa tanzania ni ukosefu wa ubunifu (hawako innovative hata kidogo).
wao wanachojua ni kuiga kinachofanywa nchi zilizoendelea. wanachoshindwa kufahamu ni kuwa nchi hizo ziliendelea kutokana na ubunifu waliokuwa nao.

 

[tgeofrey]

Sasa Hawa Wanasema Tufe Njaa Halafu Dunia Iwe Kijani Wana Maanagani. Inamaana Kijani Ni Muhimu Kuliko Uhai Wetu. SAsa Wanatuua Njaa Halafu Wanaendesha Magari Na Chakukla Chetu CHA DUNIA . Si Heri Wangetupa chakula Tule Hafafu Watengeneze Mafuta Na Kinyesi.

 

[WomanOfSubstance]

Waungwana..MKJJ na wengineo,
Hii hoja ni muhimu tukaijadili kwa mapana yake... the food dimension haina ubishi.... kuna madhara mengi zaidi na haya ndio matokeo ya viongozi wetu kufuata mkumbo bila kufanya utafiti wa kina.Ulaya waliwekeana malengo kuwa ifikapo miaka kadhaa wawe wameondokana na nishati yenye kuchafua mazingira kwa kutumia biofuels.Kama kawaida wazungu wakaona huku kwa waswahili ndo sehemu ya kuponea.... waswahili tukaahidiwa kuwa tukitoa ardhi zetu... walime mazao yatakayotoa "nishati mimea" basi tutakuwa tumcreate ajira na kujipatia kipato.... jiulize ardhi kubwa kule kisarawe imetolea bure na wanakijiji baada ya hadaa kubwa..... watalima hiyo mimea.... ajira kuu ni kukata mapori na kung'oa visiki......hiyo ni harubu kwelikweli...baada ya hapo matrekta yatapita yakichafua mazingira yetu kwa dizeli! watapanda hiyo mimea yao... itachukua miaka kuzaa....wataprocess hapa wapate mafuta... huu pia ni uchafuzi wa mazingira! watapeleka mafuta ulayaaaaa!! Watakuwa wame comply na EU requirements zao.Jiulize nani amefaidi..nani kala hasara?? je tutaweza kuja ku reverse huo uharibifu?... ni sawa na tajiri kumwomba maskini aje kuwasha moto wa kuni nyumbani kwako ilhali yeye anaogopa nyumba yake itachafuka kwa masizi... akishachemsha anachochemsha..nani anabaki na kazi ya kusafisha??

Jamani Watanzania tutaingizwa mkenge kwa mengi ..... a vizazi vijavyo watatulaani!

 

[MgonjwaUkimwi]

kwanini wasilime vyote since people need energy and food...

Swali zuri na gumu.

Kwa maoni yangu, hii njaa sio njaa ambayo itasababishwa na uhaba wa chakula bali ni njaa itakayotokana na kupanda kwa bei za mazao ya chukula, kwa sababu uzalishaji wa mazao ya chakula unapata mpinzani. Kadhalika, kama walivyosema wachangiaji wengine, kupanda kwa bei ya mafuta nako kutazifanya bei za mazao ya mafuta na chakula zitoboe paa.

 

[mwanatanu]

ILIANZISHWA HAPA JF NA MKJJ, KAMA HIVI...........

KUPANGA NI KUCHAGUA, KUTOCHAGUA NI KUJIUMBUA!

Na. M. M. Mwanakijiji

kwa mara nyingine tena naomba niwe mleta habari mbaya kwa Watanzania. Hili wazo la kukimbilia kulima miwa ili mpate mafuta litaifikisha nchi pabaya. Kuna maeneo mengi ambayo watu walikuwa wanalima chakula sasa wanakimbilia kulima miti ya mafuta na miwa.

Yota haya yanatokea kwa sababu ya imani ya utajiri wa haraka haraka kwani kama hatuwezi kuchimba mafuta kwanini basi tusiyazalishe kwenye mimea? Ingawa mafuta yatokanayo na mimea (biofuel) ndio mojawapo ya bidhaa adimu zaidi duniani sasa hivi, hali halisi ni kuwa kwa nchi kama ya kwetu, utajiri wa kweli hauko kwenye miwa na miti ya mbono....................

........Haihitaji uanasayansi kuona kuwa tunakoelekea siko, tubadili njia na tuje na sera ambayo iko balanced ili tusije tukajikuta tunatilia mkazo mafuta halafu tukishapata hizo hela za mafuta, hatuna chakula cha kununua! Kupanga kwa kweli ni kuchagua, na kuchagua ni kupangua, na ukipangua utakuwa unachagua!

Na media yetu ikafuata kama hiviiiiiiii

Serikali yatahadharishwa kuhusu kilimo cha mibono

2008-06-07 22:22:24
Na Badru Kimwaga, Jijini


Serikali imetahadharishwa na kutakiwa kufanya utafiti wa kina juu ya kilimo cha zao la mbono kilichochukua sehemu ya kilimo cha mazao ya chakula kwa baadhi ya mikoa ili kuona kama itawanufaisha kweli Watanzania au vinginevyo.

Aidha, Serikali imekumbushwa kuangalia kwa umakini hatua yake ya kugawa ardhi kwa wawekezaji wa kilimo hicho kipya kwa muda mrefu bila ya kuwa na hakika kama ardhi hizo zitatumika kwa shughuli zilizokusudiwa kwa muda wote uliopangwa.

Tahadhari hiyo imetolewa mwishoni mwa wiki na Mtaalam wa Ardhi wa Shirika la Oxfam, Bw. William Ole Nasha na Mchumi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Dk Lenny Kasoga, wakati walipokuwa wakizungumza kwenye kipindi kimoja kilichorushwa na kituo cha luninga cha ITV.

Wataalam hao wamesema kuwa, ipo haja kwa serikali kufanya utafiti wa kina kuona kama kilimo cha Jatrofa inaweza kuleta tija kwa wakulima na taifa kwa ujumla badala ya kukurupukia kuhamasisha ili kuwaridhisha mataifa makubwa ya nje.

Je serikali yetu ya haimbiliki ita......?

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Hata kama hawasikii tutaendelea kuwakumbusha..

 

[care4all]

Kikwete warns on bio-fuel danger

2008-04-14 09:47:26
By Guardian Reporter, Boao, China


President Jakaya Kikwete, who also serves as AU chairman, has urged the international community to take precautionary measures to avert the danger of reduced food production when looking for alternative sources of energy, particularly bio-fuel.

Addressing the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) here over the weekend, Kikwete, on a state visit of China, said both food production and alternative energy were equally important.

``As we cherish development of alternative sources of energy for reducing dependency on oil, we request that this should not be done as an alternative to food production,`` he said.

He expressed worries over the current tendency whereby resources like land, fertilizers and labour-key for food production--were now being used to generate alternative energy, cautioning that the trend might lead to a disaster if not taken seriously.

``Food resources are decreasing. Already there are food shortages.

The trend has resulted into the soaring of food prices around the world, coupled with other social effects,`` said Kikwete.

Banking on its vast land resources, most of which was still virgin, he said Africa could easily accommodate both food production and generate alternative energies.

On Africa-Asia economic cooperation, Kikwete called for stronger relations that would enable the continent break the deadlock and do away with conditional aid that had long pinned down its development

 

[Kibunango]

President Jakaya Kikwete, who also serves as AU chairman, has urged the international community to take precautionary measures to avert the danger of reduced food production when looking for alternative sources of energy, particularly bio-fuel.

Bio-fuel(bio ethanol)inazalishwa toka katika starchy ya corn na wheat pamoja na cellulose ipatikanayo katika miwa. Zaidi inaweza kuzalishwa toka katika taka za kilimo.

Hadi sasa ni Brazil ambayo inaongoza kwa utumiaji na uzalishaji wa ethanol toka katika miwa. Nchi za Umoja wa Ulaya walijiwekea lengo la kuzalisha ethanol kwa asilimia 2 kufikia mwaka 2005, lengo la sasa kwa nchi hizo ni kuzalisha asilimia 5.75 kufikia mwaka 2010, na hii si kwa ethanol pekee na vyanzo vingine vya energy mbadala.

Utumiaji wa Bio fuel unaweza kupunguza asilimia 70 ya utoaji wa CO2 katika magari. Lakini ni tishio kubwa sana kwa kilimo cha mazao ya chakula iwapo demand ya kutumia bio fuel itaongezaka.

Lakini kwa nini tung'ang'anie kutumia bio fuel ambayo ni ghali mno katika uzalishaji na matumizi yake na ilhali kuna vyanzo vingine ambavyo ni salama zaidi kwa binadamu na mazingira yake?

Kuna bio diesel ambayo nayo inazidi kupata umaarufu hasa katika nchi za amerika ya kusini. Matumizi yake yanaweza kuondokana na tishio la bio fuel. Bio diesel haina gharama katika matumizi kwani inatumika moja kwa moja katika engine ya diesel huku bio fuel inabidi kufanyika marekebisho kadhaa katika engine na haitumika moja kwa moja kwani huongezwa tu katika mafuta(additive to fuel)

Bio diesel inatokana na mazao ya rapeseed au mafuta machafu ya kupikia. Iwapo mafuta machafu yatatumika ni wazi kuwa tishio la uzalishaji wa bio fuel unaweza kupungua kiasi fulani. Bio diesel inaweza kupunguza asilimia 60 ya CO2 iingiayo katika anga la dunia.

Vyanzo vingine ni kama biogas yenye uwezo wa kupunguza asilimia 95 ya CO2, Electricity yenye asilimia 0 ya CO2

 

[BAK]

Wildlife and livelihoods at risk in Kenyan wetlands biofuel project· Plan approved in area prone to food shortages

· Farmers and fishermen say protests ignored
Xan Rice in Nairobi The Guardian, Tuesday June 24, 2008

Kenya has approved a controversial biofuel project that environmentalists say could destroy some of the country's most pristine wetlands. More than 80 sq miles of the Tana river delta is scheduled to become a sugar cane plantation, with much of the crop turned into ethanol in a purpose-built factory. The area is home to lions, hippos, reptiles, primates, rare sharks and 345 bird species, and sustains thousands of farmers and fishermen whose protests have been largely ignored, according to campaigners.

Paul Matiku, executive director of Nature Kenya, a Nairobi-based conservation group, described the proposed development by Mumias Sugar, a locally listed firm, as "an ecological and social disaster" that would cause heavy drainage of the delta.

"It will seriously damage our priceless national assets and will put the livelihoods of the people living in the delta in jeopardy," he said.

The merits of growing biofuels are the source of increasingly acrimonious debate in east Africa, where vast tracts of open land in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania are attracting the attention of local and international agriculture firms hoping to cash in on the demand from the US and the European Union for clean energy sources such as ethanol.

While local governments welcome the prospect of investment and job creation, there is strong opposition from environmentalists and development campaigners who say that arable land should not be used for non-food crops - especially in a region susceptible to food shortages.

The Tana delta, which lies 120 miles north of the coastal city of Mombasa and drains Kenya's longest river, is a mix of savannah, mangrove swamps, forest and beaches.

The vast supply of fresh water has made the area much coveted by sugar companies who must rely on variable rainfall on their plantations in other parts of Kenya. Mumias Sugar, which will run the £190m scheme with the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, insists the net effect will be positive, with thousands of jobs created and vastly improved infrastructure in the area. The company employed two private consulting firms to produce an environment impact assessment report showing that the ecological damage will be limited.

Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) was revealed to have approved the scheme last week, subject to conditions. But villagers and fishermen, who treat the land in and around the Tana river delta as communal, say that their concerns about the loss of livelihoods have not been addressed. Pastoralists who bring 60,000 cattle from as far afield as the Somali and Ethiopian border regions to graze in the delta during the dry season are also angry, and have disrupted public hearings on the project.

Local civil society groups that have campaigned to stop the sugar factory being built and to have the most sensitive parts of the delta declared a protected area say that their objections have been ignored both by Mumias and the government. A letter from Nature Kenya to Nema in December, written in response to a request for public comment on the plans, has never been acknowledged, said Matiku, who blames local politicians for pushing ahead with the project. "The voices of the poor and the marginalised in Kenya have again been ignored," he said.

A report commissioned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in May claims that Mumias's projections significantly overestimated the potential profit and ignored fees for the use of water and the effect of pollution from the sugar factory. The study concluded that the Tana delta's ecological benefits, including flood prevention, the storage of greenhouse gases and food provision "defied valuation", and warned of grave environmental consequences if the project went ahead.

Among the rare birds that shelter in the forests are the southern banded snake eagle, the Malindi pipit, the Tana river cisticola and the Basra reed warbler. "This decision is a very serious blow to Kenyan wildlife and to wildlife worldwide, since many migrating species use the Tana delta in internationally important numbers," said Paul Buckley, an Africa specialist with the RSPB.

"Until now, Kenya's support for global agreements to protect wildlife has been excellent but this development could severely damage Kenya's reputation for caring for its environment."

 

[Kibunango]

Mashaka haya tumewahi kuyajadili katika bandiko la miwa kwa mafuta kule kwenye ukumbi wa siasa, Kwa kumbukumbu na za mbeleni kuhusu biofuel nashauri hili bandiko kuunganishwa na lile liliopo kwenye ukumbi wa siasa..

Na iwapo itakuwa ni kazi kubwa basi iwekwe kwenye ukumbi wa Elimu ili kuweza kuwasaidia wale wote ambao wanasomea Mazingira kujua Impact za Biofuel katika nchi za Afrika kwa mtaji wa nchi za Ulaya.

 

[BAK]

Biofuel use 'increasing poverty'
BBC News Online

Palm oil is one of the biofuel crops stirring controversy
The replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty, an aid agency report says.

Oxfam says so-called green policies in developed countries are contributing to the world's soaring food prices, which hit the poor hardest.

The group also says biofuels will do nothing to combat climate change.

Its report urges the EU to scrap a target of making 10% of all transport run on renewable resources by 2020.

Oxfam estimates the EU's target could multiply carbon emissions 70-fold by 2020 by changing the use of land.

The report's author, Oxfam's biofuel policy adviser Rob Bailey, criticised rich countries for using subsidies and tax breaks to encourage the use of food crops for alternative sources of energy like ethanol.

"If the fuel value for a crop exceeds its food value, then it will be used for fuel instead," he said.

"Rich countries... are making climate change worse, not better, they are stealing crops and land away from food production, and they are destroying millions of livelihoods in the process."

Opportunity - or crime?

Biofuels are a divisive issue with strong arguments on both sides.

Leaders such as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have suggested the biofuel boom provides developing nations with a great opportunity.

He says it creates a profitable export for energy crop producers in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean that could enable them to claw their way out of poverty.

But several aid agencies and analysts have warned of the possible downside of biofuel crop cultivation.

One UN adviser went as far as describing biofuels as a "crime against humanity".

 

[Steve Dii]

Secret World Bank report: biofuel caused food crisis


Internal World Bank study delivers blow to plant energy drive
Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.


The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.


The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.


Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.
"It would put the World Bank in a political hot-spot with the White House," said one yesterday.


The news comes at a critical point in the world's negotiations on biofuels policy. Leaders of the G8 industrialised countries meet next week in Hokkaido, Japan, where they will discuss the food crisis and come under intense lobbying from campaigners calling for a moratorium on the use of plant-derived fuels.


It will also put pressure on the British government, which is due to release its own report on the impact of biofuels, the Gallagher Report. The Guardian has previously reported that the British study will state that plant fuels have played a "significant" part in pushing up food prices to record levels. Although it was expected last week, the report has still not been released.
"Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. "It is imperative that we have the full picture. While politicians concentrate on keeping industry lobbies happy, people in poor countries cannot afford enough to eat."


Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers here have described higher food and fuel prices as "the first real economic crisis of globalisation".


President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases."


Even successive droughts in Australia, calculates the report, have had a marginal impact. Instead, it argues that the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest impact on food supply and prices.
Since April, all petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include 2.5% from biofuels. The EU has been considering raising that target to 10% by 2020, but is faced with mounting evidence that that will only push food prices higher.


"Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate," says the report. The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and this February. The report estimates that higher energy and fertiliser prices accounted for an increase of only 15%, while biofuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period.


It argues that production of biofuels has distorted food markets in three main ways. First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel. Second, farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for biofuel production. Third, it has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher.


Other reviews of the food crisis looked at it over a much longer period, or have not linked these three factors, and so arrived at smaller estimates of the impact from biofuels. But the report author, Don Mitchell, is a senior economist at the Bank and has done a detailed, month-by-month analysis of the surge in food prices, which allows much closer examination of the link between biofuels and food supply.


The report points out biofuels derived from sugarcane, which Brazil specializes in, have not had such a dramatic impact.
Supporters of biofuels argue that they are a greener alternative to relying on oil and other fossil fuels, but even that claim has been disputed by some experts, who argue that it does not apply to US production of ethanol from plants.


"It is clear that some biofuels have huge impacts on food prices," said Dr David King, the government's former chief scientific adviser, last night. "All we are doing by supporting these is subsidising higher food prices, while doing nothing to tackle climate change."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy

Source link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy

SteveD.

 

[Steve Dii]

...Utabiri watimilika!

 

[AmaniGK]

Gaijini.. umesema kitu kimoja muhimu sana; Watanzania tunaishi in the "now" hatutaki kuona mbali sana. Hivi miaka ishirini iliyopita wakati wa mabadiliko ya kiuchumi hakuna mtu aliyejua kuwa Dar inahitaji barabara mpya, kubwa na uongozi mzuri wa magari? Kwanini hatukujiandaa? Sasa leo hii tumekimbilia miwa na mimbono, mwakani ikitokea njaa hivi tuna udhuru kwamba ni "kazi ya Mungu"?

Kwanini wazungu wanajitahidi sana kuona mbali, wamejaliwa nini wenzetu kwenye neurons za bongo zao ambacho sisi tumenyimwa na muumba?

Mwanakijiji nakubaliana na wewe katika mambo mengi unayochambua lakini kwa hili naomba kutofautiana na wewe. Sidhani kama ni vema kushauri suala la kulima miwa kwa ajili ya mafuta lisimamishwe.Nafikiri tungeenda mbele zaidi na kusema zaidi ya kulima miwa ya mafuta pia ni vyema tungewekeza kwenye mazao mengine ya kilimo.Nasema hili kwa kuwa nafahamu ni jinsi gani ambavyo mfano watengenezaji wa mafuta ya bei rahisi na yenye kudumu kwa muda mrefu pasipo kuchafua mazingira ya Motopoa wapatavyo shida ya kuimport ethanol kwa kuwa tu Tanzania hatuna mradi ama mradi unaojishughulisha na product hii.

Kwa wenzetu Kenya wameenda mbele zaidi na kuamua kuwekeza kwenye hili na ni mahali ambapo kwa Afrika ya mashariki tunategemea sana kwenye kupata energy hii.Nadhani hatuwezi kusimama kufanya mambo mengine ya maendeleo kwa kuwa tumeshindwa katika jambo fulani.Ni vyema basi tukaangalia mbali zaidi, kama tumeweza kuwekeza kwenye hili,basi nguvu zilizotumika zitumike pia kuwasaidia wakulima wadogo wadogo katika mazao mengine ya nafaka.

 

[Bluray]

This will not come to fruition because there is no demand for biofuel, and never will be.

The combination of OPEC opposition, fluctuating oil prices, environmentalists concerned about global warming -paradoxically biofuel, while used as a cleaner alternative compared to fosil fuels, will require the slashing down of forests to a degree that may very well cancel or exceed whatever benefit will result- and conscious western consumers concerned about goodwill and the plight of worldwide food scarcity is proving too strong for the biofuel bandwagon to win.

This is not even worth raising a voice over, it is a nonexistent concern.Any project that has the sense to engage a pilot before going full scale will realize that.

My concern is we do not even bother with pilots, we spread it wide open for the economic hitmen to do their dirty deeds.

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Leo tunaambiwa kuna matatizo ya upungufu wa chakula nchini.. ooh sisi wabebaji wa habari mbaya!

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Tanzania: Expert Faults Commercial Jatropha Investments

Finnigan Wa Simbeye
25 April 2011

JATROPHA should not replace any crops in arable farms and instead should be cultivated by smallholder farmers as hedges for farms, an expert has warned.
Pamoja Inc Co-Director Jonathan Otto said in Dar es Salaam recently that jatropha as a source of energy for communities is receiving bad media publicity because of large scale commercial investors who are driving farmers off arable land to cultivate the biofuel plant.
Pamoja Inc which is an initiative by the United States Department of Agriculture to help smallholder farmers said a recent ActionAid Kenya report that denounced large scale commercial investments in jatropha is very true because such initiatives are a bad idea for Africa.
"The conclusions of the report you cited, and what we have long stated, is that Jatropha plantations are a bad idea for so many reasons.
This has been true and known for years, and really does not require one more studyto prove it, although we must struggle to prevent land grabs and the conversion of forest land to Jatropha or any plantation crop," Mr Otto noted.
Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe supported the idea that large scale commercial jatropha plantations are not viable projects and allayed fears posed by biofuels to food security.
"All over the world, it is evident that you cannot make money from jatropha.., it's not a profitable business," Prof Maghembe argued.
He denounced large scale commercial investments in jatropha cultivation going on in the countryside and warned that such project are likely to fail.
Prof Maghembe said his ministry will ensure that no prime land or food crop is used for biofuel production because both local and international markets for food are offering better incentives.
"Food prices are skyrocketing and will continue doing so for the foreseeable future, our goal is to boost production and supply such markets," he pointed out.
Supporting the idea of denouncing Jatropha plantations as controversial investments, Otto argued that Europe has a stake in encouraging such practices because of the bloc's Energy Directive of 2008 which requires that 10 per cent of transport energy come from renewable sources.
The European Commission has however distanced itself from such criticism pointing out that a renewable energy source is not necessarily jatropha because its directive simply singles out renewable energy sources and not jatropha.
Mr Otto, however noted that there has been general confusion by critics of jatropha cultivation as a renewable energy source because they consider the biofuel as a crop.
"When people call Jatropha a crop, you can be sure they are going in the wrong direction. A crop is grown in fields. Jatropha is best grown in hedges around fields, as noted earlier, in a way that protests field crops rather than replacing them," he argued.
The Pamoja Inc co-Director expressed optimism that one day, large scale commercial jatropha plantations will go so in such a way that the bad media attention associated with such investments which are accused of land grabbing disappear as well.
"In a country where over 90 per cent of all fuel consumed is for domestic energy, the priority need is not for biodiesel but for safe, renewable cooking fuel.
Yet I calculate that if three million small farmers grew Jatropha as noted above, Tanzania would be self-sufficient in biodiesel as well -- with no large plantations required. It is not a choice of food versus fuel.
We need both food and fuel to survive and thrive," he argued. In a report titled, 'Renewable Wonder Fuel Could Cause Six Times More Carbon Emissions Than Fossil Fuels,' ActionAid, Nature Kenya and RSPB said jatropha investors evict communities from their land to grow the biofuel.
The report which is a result of a study analysis on whether biofuels made from jatropha grown at a proposed plantation in the Dakatcha Woodlands in Kenya would save emissions when compared to fossil fuels, pointed out that the argument is futile.
"Taking into account the emissions produced throughout the production and consumption process, the study found that jatropha would emit between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases, depending on how the land was used before the jatropha was planted," the report said.
It stated that Dakatcha is home to over 20,000 people and is the ancestral land of the indigenous minority Watha and Giriama tribes who face eviction for a jatropha plantation which will not only evict them from their land, but also destroy their livelihoods and sacred burial sites.
But Otto argued that such pollution is only limited to large scale investors who cut down natural forest plantations to replace them with jatropha plantations

 

[Ame]

Suala la ruzuku kwa wakulima naona halija jadiriwa hapa... kuna tofauti kubwa kati ya mkulima wa Tz na ulaya katika ruzuku na ndio maana wakulima wengi wa Tz badala ya kwenda mbele kimafanikio wamekuwa wakirudi nyuma. Kwa upande mwingine ni vigumu kwa wakulima wa Tz kupenya katika soko la kimataifa kutokana na viwango vilivyopo katika uzalishaji na mazao ya vyakula, ambapo asasi zinazo simamia viwango hivyo ni za huko huko majuu.

Kasoro hizo kwa namna moja ama nyingine zinatoa nafasi kubwa kwa mashirika ya kigeni kuweza kutumia ardhi yetu kwa kilimo kiwe kwa ajili ya energy au vyakula.

Zaidi makampuni mengi ya kilimo yatazidi kuingia katika nchi zenye mfumo wa kilimo kama Tz, ili waweze kuzalisha mazao kwa ajili ya mafuta. Hii inatokana na sheria mpya ya Mazingira ya EU ambayo imeyataka makampuni ya kutengerneza magari katika Ulaya yenye viwango vidogo vya utoaji wa CO2 kuanzia mwaka 2012.

Makampuni hayo hayaji tu kuproduce kwaajili ya biofuel tu ila hata ku produce kwa chakula kwani kwa sasa chakula duniani hakitoshi na moja ya sababu kubwa ni maendeleo ya china na India ambapo matumizi ya meet products yamekuwa makubwa kutona na kuwa mtu akiendelea anapunguza ulaji wa nafaka na kuongeza meat products. Cereal inayotumika kuproduce meat ni kubwa kuliko anayotumia mwanadamu ndiyo maana kutakuwa na scarcity. Pia population ya dunia inakadiriwa kufikia 9 bil ifikapo 2050 ambayo siyo mbali sana kutoka leo hiyo pia ni challenge kwa dunia. Statistics zinasema kutokana na low technology kwenye storing na bad roads vyakula vinavyozalishwa sasa Afrika hivi vinapotea kwa 50% na hivyo ukiondoa hilo tatizo kwakiwango tunacholima sasa hivi chakula kinachozalishwa kita double. Hii ni kwa upande wa chakula.

Ukija kwenye biofuel ni kuwa mataifa makubwa G8 yanampango wa kupunguza Co2 production kwa more than 50% by 2050 ambayo kwawingi inachangiwa na energy use kwenye siyo tu use of fossil fuel but production of meat na wana research kuona ipi bora kati ya kuproduce biofuel ama kutengeneza ingine zinazopunguza consumption ya fuel ama zote; au kuweka tax kwenye meat product ili kupunguza production and therefore consumption ya meat. I am actually in that assignment ya kuwa angalia critically what would be the good ways of reducing co2 emission. One amongst many questions bila details ni kuwa kwasababu ya copy right;

1. Do we need biofuels, fuel efficient vehicles or both?

To lower CO2 emissions in transport – and to lower our energy dependence on the Middle East -, multiple options are conceivable; biofuels to substitute fossil fuels, more energy efficient vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, more and better public transport, etc. How should we select from all these options? Biofuels risk to interact with other usages of biomaterials: as food, as feedstock, as fiber etc… Do we really need biofuels, or do we simply need more fuel efficient vehicles? Or both?

2. Should we install a carbon tax on fossil fuel consumption or on meat consumption? Or should we do both?

From a lifecycle perspective[1], cattle or meat production is responsible for some 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than the greenhouse gas emissions from global transportation. As the increase of the global meat consumption imposes a real challenge – especially in combination with a growing populations-, shouldn't we be more concerned with limiting meat consumption instead of energy consumption? ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e.pdf

[1] With a lifecycle analysis, the environmental impact of a product or service is assessed over the complete lifecycle of the product i.e. starting with the design, material extraction and production phases and ending with post-life phases (recycling, partial re-use, conventional waste treatment, etc).





So you see investing on something which is dependent on foregin policies bila kuangalia risk of doing so while kuna uhakika kwamba tatizo la chakula ni la uhakika zaidi kuliko hilo la fuel. Well our planners sielewi kama huwa wako serious and are doing their job kwa uzalendo na uaminifu bila kuwa na reservations za ufisadi ili nao wapate cha juu.