12 Aug 2013

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated equipment worth about P2 million for the Botswana-Japan Jatropha Research project (BoJJaRP).

Some of the donated equipment included portable photosynthesis and fluorescence system, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis machine, drop irrigation system, local weather sensors, block heather and weather station.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony on August 9, minerals, energy and water resources permanent secretary, Mr Boikobo Paya, said the project was a step forward in the area of scientific research for the country.

The BoJJaRP, Mr Paya said, was critical for Botswana because, if successful, production of biodiesel from Jatropha would reduce the import bill of petroleum products and contribute to improvement of security of supply of energy and in turn contribute to the economy by creating more job opportunities.

“There are a number of benefits that are being realised from the research and these include technology, information and skills to our people. There has been information sharing among researchers involved in this project,” he added.

He added that the ministry also remained committed to the project and will continue to support it by any means.

“We are looking at this project with much anticipation especially that at times we experience petroleum products supply challenges; and we are entirely dependent on imports. We believe that according to this project the support that it needs, will deliver the desired outputs that will benefit this country,” he said.

Japanese Ambassador to Botswana, Mr Hiroyasu Kobayashi said the project would lead to the diversification of the energy supply in a sustainable manner.

Mr Kobayashi also indicated that in order to make the project an alternative sustainable energy resource in an environmentally sustainable manner, they expected Jatropha plants to become strong enough to be mass-produced even in frost and drought-prone regions.

The project’s objective, he said would not be achieved without cooperation of the Botswana and Japan teams, adding “the Japanese teams were always enthusiastic about transferring their knowledge and experience to their counterparts.”

Further, he said benefits provided by the achievement would not only be the felt by the countries where the experiments were being conducted such as; Botswana and Mozambique, but will also be highly welcomed and appreciated by other African countries which have similar climate conditions. Ends