As a leaf specialist with a leading tobacco company, Magdalene Mucite left her job in the city to begin commercially farming jatropha. Oil extracted from the jatropha seeds was successfully used to power a car in Kenya’s Shimba hills two years ago and Mucite wants to achieve a similar feat in Uganda.
Center for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC) is leading the research for the purification of jatropha oil to use it to fuel cars. Karsten Berchtel, the project management officer of Renewable Energy Research, says the potential of the ‘diesel tree’ in Uganda is great. "The university has already acquired a light motorized portable machine at sh5m from China to extract oil from the jatropha and other oil seeds. The machine, which will be launched in April this year, uses both diesel and jatropha seeds," says Karsten.
Mucite said that the plant that produces biofuel feedstock is susceptible to beetles and termites; however, another issue is that there are no supporting measures in place to help support jatropha farmers. Mucite has turned jatropha into a one-stop shop even selling seeds to farmers with a handbook on the crop. She plans to use her profit to buy a processing machine soon as Mucite currently processes crude oil at the Africa Power Initiative plant.
Last year, Mucite won first position at the Uganda National Farmers’ Association show in Jinja, earning her recognition from President Yoweri Museveni.
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