President William Ruto's administration has received a shot in the arm after an Italian firm agreed to bankroll a project that will see Kenya produce biofuel for jets.
The new deal was secured by the Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Investment Promotion Abubakar Hassan Abubakar.
Abubakar convinced an Italian firm, Enrico Travelini, to pump Ksh16 billion (USD 100 million) into castor farming.
"Castor farming is an alternative crop for farmers in semi-arid areas to earn a decent living. Led by Enrico Travelini we have Facilitated Castor growing, extraction, and processing investment worth over $ 100 M from ENI, Italy, the second largest oil producer in Europe to stimulate the socio-economic development of ASAL areas," Abubakar stated.
PS Abubakar Hassan Abubakar with Italian investors on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. PHOTO | COURTESY
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According to the PS, the castor seeds will be processed before being used to make biofuel for jets positioning Kenya as an aviation powerhouse.
The biofuel which will be produced will help reduce emission rates, the PS added.
"The castor seeds will be processed to produce non-edible vegetable oil which will be refined to produce biofuel for Jets to reduce carbon emissions," PS Abubakar stated.
He made the revelation after visiting some farms picked to spearhead the castor farming project in the country.
The new deal is expected to create employment opportunities and spur economic development in the country.
"Today, I visited the 200 Hectares ENI multiplication of parental seeds farm in Marura, Naivasha that will be used to produce hybrid castor seeds with better yield to be distributed to almost 80,000 smallholder farmers who have been recruited in 15 counties for contract castor farming,"the PS announced.
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