Geo-tourism
About 60% of Nigeria’s arable land remain fallow. Erosion (water and wind), continue to deplete this resource, while the polity ponder what action to take. The diversity of our cultures and ecosystem, provides us a rich source of revenue generation, albeit, the decadence in infrastructure and political will to support non-oil exports has left this sector in limbo.
Jatropha is known to enrich the soil, thereby curbing erosion and cutting back desertification, while it doesn’t compete with food crops for soil nutrients. It is a rich source of bio-diesel, which could transform the fortunes of communities overnight.
My 2020 idea, is to establish Jatropha plantations in communities, thereby providing jobs for thousands, thereby restoring and improving available carbon sinks in our environment. This can be a catalyst to boost infrastructure for pro-poor tourism to thrive, thereby generating income for communities from more fronts, and promoting our cultures to the world, through tourism.
Ade Sofola on Oct 05, 2011
The impact of Jatropha on the biodiversity of an area has still not been sufficiently researched. Kenya bowed out of a mass Japtopha project in 2010 – http://naturekenya.org/sites/default/files/EastAfrican%2026July-01Aug2010.pdf and it is a highly toxic plant, a variety was banned in Western Australia in 2005 and also would pose significant challenges to our ability to produce food as it needs significant land to grow – http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2155351.ece
Kolo Kenneth Kadiri on Oct 07, 2011
The impact of Jatropha on the environment has been widely researched. It is known to thrive in poor soils, and even improves the fertility of the soil, as its leaves contain nitrogen, pottasium and sodium – key ingredients of fertilizers today. I beg to disagree that jatropha would be competition for edible food production, as most of the arable land in the northern part of the country are currently not utilized. My state of origin – Niger, has 9% of the total land mass of Nigeria – the largest. However, only about 40% of it is being cultivated today. The toxicity of the jatropha plant, is only useful as its leaves are not edible enough for animals. however, the fruits when roasted is edible for man. when oil is extracted, the bye product is still useful to generate energy for industries and homes.
Currently, MJ Investments, a firm from South Asia manage a huge plantation 56km outside the city of Jos, within the damaged and abandoned soils of the tin mining era. And jatropha is going to enable them reclaim those lands for agriculture within the next 10 years at the most.
The profit margins are high, and this can enable communities to invest in projects to improve infrastructure around them, and pave way for eco-cultural tourism to flourish.
AIESEC Liberia on Oct 05, 2011
A plantation of Jatropha measuring 5 hectares would definitely employ atleast 500 workers. With enough investment, the farm provides education, housing, medical and recreational facilities for the farmers. The land could be leased out to the farmers, meaning that they get to cultivate the crops, and sell to the farm management. The ecosystem improves, investment in to a community fund means that communities can run their own projects to improve infrastructure, and then Pro-poor tourism can fare better where there’s potential. Awesome idea here.
Kolo Kenneth Kadiri on Oct 07, 2011
These links should speak volume for themselves:
http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/08/12/first-jatropha-biodiesel-plant-expected-in-nigeria-this-year-as-mobile-base-station-demand-soars/
http://greenshieldofnations.org/Biodiesel_Project.html