Nyandiwa calls Italy: Italy answers!

Kenya Harambee Gwassi: Kitawa, Environmental Project"Ukitaka cha mvunguni sharti uiname" - "If you want something under the bed, you have to bend over" (Swahili proverb)

The cultivation of jatropha

Through agricultural business activity for social purposes, the project aims to develop sustainable energy and independence of the local community.
Near Kitawa has launched an experimental cultivation of Jatropha, a tropical plant that grows in semi-arid lands with low rainfall and temperatures above 14° C. The seeds obtained from the fruit peeled produce about 35% of the weight of oil, used as 'alternative energy' with a simple filtering: biodiesel fuel for generators and vehicles (1 hectare of jatropha produces up to 1.900 liters of fuel). The residues from the milling of seeds become fertilizer for land, simply by adding water and if the chemical reaction takes place in a closed container, it gets course of methane to fuel stoves and lamps, which burns without smoke, smells and does not pollute. Other derivatives are soap, glycerine and candles. The cultivation of Jatropha curcas is currently being researched as a truly sustainable biofuel, it also helps to combat desertification as it promotes the absorption of atmospheric CO² and its roots protect the soil without impoverishing it.
The stages of the project

Completed construction of factory building for processing jatropha seeds, tested in November 2010 was pressing with a simple mechanical press. Since 2011, we will plan to start cultivating the production of oil and its derivatives.
Irrigation Project in the plain of Nyandiwa