Wauw, reading this comment as the first one today entered as a shock and I think you are so angry because you don’t have all the facts.

I’m not pushing the farmers to grow Jatropha but I’m educating the Gambian people about the benefits of growing Jatropha and how it can improve their lives.

How:
1. Replacing expensive candles by using the Jatropha oil for lights
2. Protecting their vegetable gardens by building Jatropha hedges so
the cattle can not enter there and they don’t have to replace the sticks and barbwire they use now because the sticks are eaten by termites and the barbwire rusts away
3. Using the Jatropha oil for an income generating soap production, now
they use expensive imported oil
4. Use the Jatropha oil in special stoves to cook on, now they use wood
or charcoal and that is the reason why we have little trees left in the country
5. In a later stage, when the production is improving the oil can be
used for the engines of generators and all the public transport in the country.

What I try to prevent is that foreign investors are coming into the country to set up big farms where the Gambian people can work (for a very low
salary) and where the profit will leave the country again. I do receive weekly emails with questions from businessman who are requesting my help in this.

As you can see there are only benefits for the Gambians themselves in growing Jatropha and since we start we only receive enthusiastic reactions.

In a later stage the Jatropha oil that is not needed in the country can be exported, and believe it or not I receive emails requesting for thousands of metric tons of oil per month every week.

I hope you are now updated about my agenda, I don’t feel guilty about making this world a better place to live in and I definitely don’t understand how you see this as a scamble? (I don’t even know what the first one was).

I’m looking forward to your reply and I wish you a nice day,

Kind regards,
Beppie Smits
ps: I tried to reply direct to the email adress you privided but this email adress didn’t exist.

Greg

now that I see the upload worked, let me specify my request: I would like to collect Jatropha seeds in different areas of the Gambia during this growth season, and terefore am looking for advice where to find the plants. Your network thus seems to be the ideal contact. Maybe I can even purchase some seeds from you? I’ll be glad to explain more about my plans if I get in personal contact with you.

Greetings, L. Komma

this is an impressing website! I would like to get in touch with you, the author, but I am not sure if the messages uploaded previously reached you. Could you please provide an email address, or a telephone number? I can be reached under 0049-7472-41625 and would be happy to call you back.

Regards, L. Komma

we read your Jatropha-site with interest, as we are working in Casamance (Senegal), mainly in reforestment. We’ve been willing to do trials with pressing oil for several years, but never really knew where to begin. We have a small Piteba press to do some tests now, but as we are based so close to the Gambia, it might be very useful to visit you and hear about your ideas and experiences.
Could you reply me if you are willing to recieve us for a short visit (preferably one of these fridays)? email is ok, either call me at 00221-6580808. Thank you in advance,

Arjen de Haas