Socio-economic experiences of different jatropha business models in Africa

Abstract

In Africa, a major motivation for embarking on biofuels, particularly from jatropha, is a desire to promote socio-economic, rural development and to reduce poverty. Despite their potential socio-economic benefits, biofuels investments can also lead to negative impacts such as human displacements. One option for suitable feedstock for biofuels is jatropha which can grow on marginal land. It can be used in different business models and for multiple purposes. Its oil produces biodiesel, soap, lotion, floor polish and as a by-product press cake that can be used as fertilizer. In many African rural areas, jatropha is used as a live fence by smallholder farmers and grows well under intercropping situations. This farming model has proven to be socio-economically the most successful, beneficial, and sustainable in Africa. Some of the challenges associated with jatropha are-despite claims of being a "miracle crop"-its commercial production which has yet to take off in Africa and commercial plantings which have not been widely implemented to date. In addition, its agronomic requirements, yield levels, and economics are highly unknown in the region. The crop takes 3-5 years to produce sizable quantities of seed. At the current low yields, the profitability of jatropha feedstock production for both community and large scale production is greatly compromised if the intended product is biodiesel alone. Furthermore, the amount of land required to produce a given quantity of biodiesel under plantation conditions largely depends on the productivity of feedstock. Consequently, substantial amounts of land are required to support jatropha based biodiesel production if seed yields remain low. The conversion of large tracts of land associated with this can adversely affect biodiversity, habitat and ecosystem integrity, climate change, mitigation capacity, household food security, and community land rights. It is therefore important to minimize such impacts by carefully considering among others the business model to be adopted in promoting jatropha for bioenergy production in Africa.