An African, Caribbean, Pacific - European Union (ACP-EU) Energy Facility (II) Project designed to support communities in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region to access renewable energy services for lighting and cooking using Jatropha curcas, has been launched.
As part of the project, a production and service centre will be established at a community in the district and rural farmers using marginal lands will produce Jatropha seeds, which can be milled to produce Jatropha oil for running basic engines.
The four-year project is a collaboration of Spallanzani Technologies of Italy, New Energy, Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione (NRD)- Universita degli Studi di Sassari (Italy), Technology Consultancy Center (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Municipality of Dori (Burina Faso).
Its overall objective is to provide rural dispersed populations in Ghana and Burkina Faso with access to sustainable, renewable, affordable and more efficient energy services and opportunities.
In an address read for him to launch the project in Tamale on Wednesday, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Deputy Minister of Energy said the government recognized the important role bio-fuel could play to ensure energy security and job creation, adding it was also "aware of the potential concerns about land grabbing and the public outcry on conflicts between demands for land, for food production and energy crops".
Alhaji Fuseini said, "It is against this background that the Ministry of Energy fully supports the NewEnergy and TCC of KNUST in collaboration with Spallanzani Technologies of Italy to implement small scale community-based biofuel renewable projects that could address the challenges of land grabbing and provide important lessons and cost evidence about the role biofuel can play in meeting rural energy needs."
He, therefore, urged the implementers of the project to factor in the concept of sustainable food production, adding "Africa needs food (Bio-energy) to provide the human energy required for most of our productive activities."
Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister described the launch as timely as it would contribute to reducing poverty in the communities. Mr Asabigi said it would also help small and medium enterprises in the communities to reduce their costs of production thus leading to reduced prices of services.
He called on the communities to embrace the project by offering their support such that after the four years, they could assume ownership of it (project).
Professor Giuseppe Enne, Project Coordinator of Spallanzani Technologies of Italy, mentioned one of the expected results of the project, which was "Capacity building of local stakeholders improved through technological transfer and training on self-management of energy facilities and self-production, processing and use of Jatropha curcas".