Jatropha, a biofuel feedstock, is receiving a bad reputation based mostly on the actions of large-scale commercial farmers, according to some on the ground in Tanzania. US Department of Agriculture-led initiative to help smallholder farmers, Pamoja Inc.’s co-director Jonathan Otto said that the feedstock is receiving bad media publicity as a result of large scale commercial investors who are driving farmers off arable land to cultivate the biofuel plant.
A recent study by ActionAid Kenya found that large-scale jatropha for commercialization will hurt, not help, Africa.
Tanzania’s Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Minister, Professor Jumanne Maghembe supported the idea that large scale commercial jatropha plantations are not viable projects and allayed fears posed by biofuels to food security. "All over the world, it is evident that you cannot make money from jatropha…, it’s not a profitable business," Prof Maghembe argued. He said his ministry will ensure that no prime land or food crop is used for biofuel production because both local and international markets for food are offering better incentives.
The biggest argument comes from the European Commission’s Energy Directive of 2008 which requires that 10% of transportation fuel come from renewable energy sources. And many are jumping to African land in order to plant the biofuel crop to meet the bloc’s requirements.
However, Otto said that instead of planting jatropha on large pieces of land where food crops thrive, the biofuel feedstock can be planted around crops as a hedge. "When people call Jatropha a crop, you can be sure they are going in the wrong direction. A crop is grown in fields. Jatropha is best grown in hedges around fields, as noted earlier, in a way that protests field crops rather than replacing them," he added.
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