assessing the availability of land and water resources for production of energy crops in southern africa评估土地和水资源的可用性在南部非洲能源作物的生产.pdfVIP

Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, 2012, 2, 37-42 / 10.4236/jsbs.2012.23006 Published Online September 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jsbs) Assessing the Availability of Land and Water Resources for Production of Energy Crops in Southern Africa Kelebogile B. Mfundisi Land Management Department, Polytechnic of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia Email: kmfundisi@daad-alumni.de, kmfundisi@.na Received July 7, 2012; revised August 7, 2012; accepted August 20, 2012 ABSTRACT Production of energy crops is perceived as a potential source of alternative energy for petroleum oil. However, it is cru- cial to ensure that there is adequate land and water available for production of energy crops before indulging into the business of producing such crops. This paper assesses the availability of land and water resources for production of en- ergy crops in the SADC region using landuse/landcover data, hydrological and meteorological data, as well as socio- economic data. It is found that Botswana and Mozambique have large amounts of bushland that can be used for expan- sion of agricultural land including production of energy crops. Zimbabwe has the highest amount of land under cultiva- tion, which makes it difficult for the country to expand its agricultural land. However, land reform processes taking place in Zimbabwe provides a good opportunity to diversify agricultural production including reallocation of farms for production of energy crops. Mozambique has favorable rainfall for production of maize and sugarcane, whereas Zim- babwe can explore growing Jatropha on degraded land and use irrigation for cultivation of sugarcane. High frequency of crop failure in Botswana makes it difficult to grow maize or sugarcane as energy crop. The country can promote production of sweet sorghum, which is tr