Abstract

This bulletin identifies the jatropha production systems that are most sustainable and viable and that can contribute to rural development and alleviate poverty. It also points out the critical areas of needed research for decision-makers as well as for those actively involved in jatropha production. Information on jatropha as a bioenergy crop, starting with the papers presented to the April 2008 IFAD/FAO International Consultation on Pro-Poor Jatropha Development held in Rome, Italy (IFAD 2008), were reviewed. This information has been supplemented by consulting various reports, conference papers, and both published and unpublished scientific papers. The book consists of seven chapters. The introductory chapter offers general background on liquid biofuels, energy poverty and global jatropha production trends. Chapter 2 discusses the origin and spread, nomenclature and taxonomy, description, and uses of Jatropha curcas L. Chapter 3 examines the factors required for successful cultivation of jatropha for oil production. Chapter 4 discusses seed harvest, processing and uses of Jatropha. Chapter 5 discusses genetic improvement of jatropha while Chapter 6 looks at the experience of Jatropha in West Africa, East Africa and India. Chapter 7 examines the importance of biofuels and the potential of jatropha for poverty reduction, together with the risks jatropha biofuel development presents to livelihoods of the rural poor and to the environment. It further characterizes jatropha production systems and concludes with the conditions required for jatropha to make a meaningful impact on pro-poor development. In conclusion, Jatropha grows in semi-arid regions with low nutrient requirements and little care however its seed yields, oil quality and oil content are highly variable. Thus, the expectation that jatropha can substitute significantly for oil imports will remain unrealistic unless there is an improvement in the genetic potential of oil yields and the production practices that can harness the improved potential. The main pro-poor potential of jatropha is within a strategy for the reclamation of degraded farmland along with local processing and utilization of the oil and by-products. In addition, by providing physical barriers, jatropha can control grazing and demarcate property boundaries while at the same time improving water retention and soil conditions. These attributes, added to the benefits of using a renewable fuel source, can contribute in an even larger way to protecting the environment.

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