Among the plants that can be used for energy production, Jatropha has a special position. The plant has increasingly been called the ultimate wonder plant, combining all the positive features of a biofuel, without its pitfalls: it is drought resistant; its nuts have a high oil and energy content and it grows on and even restores degraded soils. The plant thereby does not compete with crops planted for food production, provides additional income for rural farmers in poor tropical and subtropical regions and does not endanger food sovereignty. As a result, Jatropha has been introduced in arid and semi-arid tropical regions worldwide, especially in developing countries.



However, recent developments are shedding further light on the dark side of large-scale Jatropha biofuel cultivation. A recent study from Mozambique, prepared by the Mozambican organisations Justicia Ambiental and UNAC, commissioned by the Swiss Alliance Sud, outlines cases where local farmers have been forced off their lands by multinational corporations who use the land to plant Jatropha. Similar cases have recently been reported from Ghana and Tanzania. In India and the Philippines, Jatropha cultivation has displaced local agricultural crops, and even led to the outbreak of violent protests. Moreover, the plant is toxic for humans and animals and its spread may be uncontrollable. Australia has therefore banned Jatropha as an invasive species. Furthermore, the plant’s oil yield has been overestimated, as has been its resistance to drought and disease. As a consequence, biofuel companies avoid cultivation on marginal lands and look for more productive soils – which limits the plant’s most important advantage. The case of Jatropha illustrates how clear advantages can easily turn negative when managed unsustainably and without the meaningful integration of local stakeholders – a prerequisite, even when planting a potential wonder plant. (Stephan Wolters and Christiane Roettger)



Further information on recent developments of Jatropha cultivation in Ghana can be found at http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=86044



Further news coverage on Jatropha is available at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/05/jatropha-biofuels-food-crops



The report "Jatropha! A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique" is available at

http://www.pronatura.ch/content/data/Report%20Jatropha%20_engl.pdf

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, October 2009