New project brings relief to the jobless in Swaziland

A new day has dawned over the Kingdom of Swaziland after an international conglomerate, D1 Oils Plc commenced a project that is surely poised to alleviate poverty and improve people's lives — particularly in the depraved rural areas of the country. The new project, piloted by D1 Oils (Swaziland) comes as a relief to many Swazis since the country has over the years been relying on sugarcane as the major export revenue earner. However, but the industry has been hard hit by reforms in the world sugar market and the collapse of preferential trade areas. Swaziland is also faced with the world's highest HIV and Aids infection rate, which currently stands at 43 percent.

The country has also had to contend with very little growth in foreign direct investment, weak performance in the manufacturing sector and low productivity in agriculture due to persistent drought conditions. D1 Oils (Swaziland) Chief Executive Officer Gaetan Ning, said the company will grow a plant that produces oil that can be blended with an oil and added to with mineral diesel. "We are excited about the prospects that await us in Swaziland and look forward to working with our partners in the country to bring about sustainable job creation," he said. The product can be used in almost all forms of the diesel engines as an alternative to pure mineral diesel. This plant is Jatropha curcas, also known as the Physic Nut, requires minimal inputs of water and grows well in extremely poor soil — and is set to create thousands of jobs and attract foreign exchange for the farmers because the main market for the diesel is in Europe.

Ning, an international businessman of high repute, said they were working with the government, communities and local experts in agribiodiesel industry, to commence the pilot project in October with an initial 10 000 hectares of land. Jatropha can yield up to five tons of seeds per hectare produced under optimum conditions. The oil content of the seed is 55-60 percent, which can be converted into biodiesel by a refining process known as transesterification. An annual yield of 0.7 to 2 tonnes of biodiesel could be expected per hecter. "The economic benefits to growers vary from place to place and is often dependent upon the cost of transporting the seed to the refinery. D1 Oils (Swaziland) will assist farmers by fetching the produce from designated areas near the plantation, which will come as a huge relief to the farmers and ensure maximum financial benefit. In Thailand, for example, the average total revenue per hectare for farmers was around US$1,67.38 from growing 416 kg a year, US$50, 100 over 30 years.

Estimated biodiesel production per hecter was about 3000 litres over the same 30 year period," Ning said. Ning explained that D1 Oils Plc is a global energy business which was established to respond to the world's growing demand for more green fuel. Ning explained that its business is the sourcing and refining of crude vegetable oils to ensure a consistent, high volume, high quality supply of renewable biodiesel, which is competitively priced. "Through the production of biodiesel, we are contributing to improving air quality, reducing emissions that contribute to climate change, and improving energy security through a diversity of supply. Furthermore, by sourcing feedstock crops grown in the developing world, we will contribute to sustainable economic development in some of the world's poorest countries," Ning said.

Already, the company has had several consultative meetings with communities that stood to benefit from the project and change their economic fortunes. D1 Oils (Swaziland) recently donated US$31 500 to His Majesty King Mswati III, to be used by the government to cater for the running of a Job Creation Summit next week. "It is important to carry the communities on board because the success of this project lies squarely with the community members. That is why the project is a collaboration between D1 Oils Africa, D1 Oils (Swaziland) in partnership with Swazi Agri Biodiesel Industries, the Swaziland Government and the various communities," Ning said.

Despite several initiatives and programmes by government the urgently needed development of smallholders from subsistance to emergent commercial farmers has not occurred at the scale and rate required to address the overwhelming challenges agriculture and poverty reduction is faced with. "With the irrigation of sugracane taking 95 perecent of the country's valuable water supply, diversification should be aimed at crops that require little or no irrigation," a report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives titled: "Farming for Rural Development and Energy" reflected. It is stated in the report that in Africa, India, Asia and the Americas, Jatropha is one of the most promising feedstocks in what is becoming a worldwide biofuel bonanza.

Worldwide, D1 Oils plc has secured plantation agreements in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and the Philippines. Across the developing world there is a growing excitement about the possibility that an up-to-now obscure tree, Jatropha might offer a sustainable, large scale source of biodiesel. This non-edible shrub is planted as a hedge or field crop in both Africa and India, and its seeds can be used as a laxative in traditional medicine. The International Energy Association has indicated that the use of oil, including diesel, for road transport will double in the next 25 years and greenhouse gases will increase commensurably. In the European Union (EU) Legislation is already in place to mitigate this by increasing the proportion of biodiesel in Europe's transport energy mix.

While combustion of any fuel releases CO2 into the atmosphere, biodiesel produces lower emissions than mineral diesel. Furthermore, because it comes from crops that absorb CO2 as they grow, biodiesel's overall contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is extremely low. It is also argued that biodiesel could be used in any automobile brand which has been approved for its use by the manufacturers without any modification to the engine or accessories.