POVERTY: Jatropha - not really green

 Photo: Ton Rulkens/Flickr
Jatropha not quite the perfect green fuel

JOHANNESBURG, 23 March 2011 (IRIN) - A new study has put the brakes on a rush by some countries and companies to establish plantations of jatropha, an oil-bearing shrub and cousin of the castor bean bush, as a source of biofuel.
The study by ActionAid, an anti-poverty NGO, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Nature Kenya, a conservation society, looked at whether biofuel made from jatropha grown in the Dakatcha woodlands in Kenya’s coastal district of Malindi, could indeed be a green fuel.
Chris Coxon of ActionAid said the oil yield of the seed from plants grown on land earmarked for jatropha cultivation in Malindi would determine whether the shrub provided a viable alternative to fossil fuel.
Previous land use was another critical factor. The study found that throughout the production and consumption process in the Dakatcha woodlands, the jatropha would emit between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, largely because of clearing the forest, which stores massive amounts of carbon in its vegetation and soil, to make room for the plant.
Other studies have also found that the yield from jatropha can vary considerably, because contrary to the popular perception that it can thrive in semi-arid conditions, the plants need water and nutrients to produce high yields.
So, if an investment in irrigation and fertilizer is required, why not grow food crops instead, the study argued. Much of the biofuel from the Dakatcha woodlands project, when it starts producing, is destined for Europe to meet regional targets for switching to renewable energy.
The study underlined what a joint UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report on jatropha had found in 2010 - that the shrub was useful as a bio-energy crop for cultivation by small-scale farmers.
"Some communities in the dry sahel of Africa have told us they are not against jatropha, only large plantations established by foreign companies for export without their consent," said Tim Rice, ActionAid's biofuels expert.
"They proposed growing small plots of jatropha on their own agriculural land or as a 'hedge' to divide fields. Used locally, it could be used as fuel for stoves, irrigation pumps and generators."
But even then, growing jatropha could prove uneconomical if there was no investment in developing higher oil-yielding, non-toxic varieties.
The Kenyan government has suspended clearing the full 50,000 hectares of forest, which would have displaced 20,000 people for the proposed plantation in Dakatcha, pending an environmental impact assessment, the study said.
“What concerns us is the growing move towards massive plantations of jatropha in developing countries,” said Coxon.

Here is a closer look at jatropha and why it has caught the imagination of so many.
How many?
In 2008, jatropha was planted on an estimated 900,000 hectares globally; 760,000 hectares (85 percent of the total) were located in Asia, followed by Africa with 120,000 hectares and Latin America with 20,000 hectares. By 2015, jatropha would be planted on a projected 12.8 million hectares, according to an FAO report.
By comparison, maize, one of the world’s major staple grain crops, is planted on more than 160 million hectares.
In another four years, Indonesia will be the largest jatropha producing country in Asia. In Africa, Ghana and Madagascar will be the biggest producers, while Brazil will be the main producer in Latin America.

Why jatropha?
Jatropha has a long history of being recognized as a substitute for fossil fuel. During the Second World War it was used as a replacement for diesel in Madagascar, Benin and Cape Verde, while its glycerine by-product was used to make nitro-glycerine, used in explosives and medicines for treating heart conditions.
FAO said jatropha had gained some ground as a source of oil for producing biodiesel because of the common perception that it could be grown in semi-arid regions with low nutrient requirements and little care.
Jatropha's extensive roots allow it to reach water deeper in the soil and extract leached mineral nutrients unavailable to many other plants. The surface roots also help bind the soil and can reduce erosion. Compared to other biofuel crops such as sugarcane, it requires less water.
It is a non-edible crop, “So the biodiesel sector does not compete with food and feed use of this crop,” said Simla Tokgoz, a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a US-based think-tank. Other feedstocks used in biodiesel production are rapeseed, soybean, coconut, and palm.
Jatropha is still in the early stages of development as a biofuel but is expected to be a less expensive source for biodiesel production, which could increase profitability, Tokgoz said.
Jatropha oil can be used directly in some diesel engines without being converted into biodiesel, but because it has a higher viscosity than mineral diesel, it works better in tropical environments, where temperatures are higher.

Is it a viable alternative?
Large-scale biodiesel production will need more water, and in water-stressed conditions this could lead to conflict. The FAO/IFAD report said jatropha biodiesel conformed to the required European and USA quality standards, but cautioned that "It is not a technology suited to resource-poor communities in developing countries."
Biodiesel production also requires expertise, equipment, and the ability to handle large quantities of dangerous chemicals such as toxic methanol and highly corrosive sodium hydroxide.
When comparisons are made of the return on labour input Jatropha performs poorly against other biofuel feedstocks, but much depends on the level of yields, which need to be improved, the FAO/IFAD report said.
Jatropha has a marketable non-edible by-product, but it is less valuable than canola, for example, which can be consumed by animals, said Tokgoz.
Instead of competing for agricultural land, or removing forests or displacing communities, Tokgoz suggested planting government wasteland or contract farming using small- and medium-scale farmers. But again, this would mean investment in irrigation, inputs and efforts to improve yields.
Jatropha is regarded by many as an invasive plant and has been declared a noxious weed in parts of Australia, FAO pointed out. South Africa has banned its commercial production.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=92267

POVERTY: EU biofuels target could starve millions of people

15 February 2010
Millions of people could starve if member states deliver on the EU’s target of sourcing 10% of its transport fuel from biofuels as a way of tackling climate change, argues a new report from ActionAid, an NGO.
Background
In December 2008, EU leaders reached agreement on a new Renewable Energy Directive, which requires each member state to satisfy 10% of its transport fuel needs from renewable sources, including biofuels, hydrogen and green electricity, by 2020 (see EurActiv LinksDossier).
However, concerns have been raised that increased biofuel production would result in massive deforestation and have severe implications for food security, as energy crops replace other land uses (so-called 'indirect land-use change').
International development and environment groups have condemned the EU target and called on the bloc both to abandon the 10% target and dismantle related support measures to avoid making millions more go hungry.
The huge expansion in industrial biofuels use must be stopped," said ActionAid's biofuels expert Tim Rice, calling for EU governments to refrain from increasing their use further while drafting national action plans for renewable energy for the next 10 years.
Currently made from maize, wheat, sugar cane and oil seeds such as palm oil, soy and rapeseed, industrial biofuels compete with crops grown for food, "driving food prices higher and affecting what and how much people eat in developing countries," notes the ActionAid report on the impact of industrial biofuels on global hunger.
"For every 1% rise in the price of food, 16 million more poor people are made hungry," it estimates.
According to ActionAid's evaluation, EU biofuel consumption will "jump nearly fourfold" by 2020, and two thirds of these biofuels will be imported mainly from the developing world, diverting food away from millions more people who need it most.
Landgrab
Industrial biofuels are also having "disastrous local impacts" on land rights in many of the communities where they are grown, notes the report.
"The scale of the current land grab is astonishing," ActionAid argues. The survey shows that in five African countries, areas the size of Belgium (1.1 million hectares) have been given over to industrial biofuel cultivation, all of which is destined for export.
According to the survey, EU companies have acquired or requested areas of land greater than the size of Denmark (over five million hectares) for cultivating industrial biofuels in developing countries.
Industrial biofuels: Climate change 'red herring'
While EU legislation establishes sustainability criteria for biofuels (currently in the making) and obliges the bloc to ensure that biofuels offer at least 35% carbon emission savings compared to fossil fuels, 60% as of 2018, ActionAid notes that "most industrial biofuels do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the fossil fuels they are replacing" (EurActiv 05/12/08, 03/02/10).
Industrial biofuels are "a red herring in the fight against climate change," it continues, stressing their contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Land-use change from converting forests and grasslands to grow biofuel crops is an important cause of GHG emissions and using fertilisers to grow them releases nitrous oxide, which the NGO stresses is 300 times more powerful as a GHG than CO2.
http://www.euractiv.com/en/cap/biofuels-fuel-hunger-ngo-warns

MALNUTRITION: food shortages in Africa because of EU target to produce 10% of all transport fuels from biofuels by 2020

Katie Allen
30 August 2010
Friends of the Earth says that biofuel crops, including sugar cane, 'are competing directly with food crops for fertile land'. Photograph: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters
European Union countries must drop their biofuels targets or else risk plunging more Africans into hunger and raising carbon emissions, according to Friends of the Earth (FoE).
In a campaign launching today, the charity accuses European companies of land-grabbing throughout Africa to grow biofuel crops that directly compete with food crops. Biofuel companies counter that they consult with local governments, bring investment and jobs, and often produce fuels for the local market.
FoE has added its voice to an NGO lobby that claims local communities are not properly consulted and that forests are being cleared in a pattern that echoes decades of exploitation of other natural resources in Africa.
In its report "Africa: Up for Grabs", the group says that the key to halting the land-grab is for EU countries to drop a goal to produce 10% of all transport fuels from biofuels by 2020.
"The amount of land being taken in Africa to meet Europe's increasing demand for biofuels is underestimated and out of control," Kirtana Chandrasekaran, food campaigner for FoE in the UK, said. "Especially in Africa, as long as there's massive demand for biofuels from the European market, it will be hard to control. If we implement the biofuels targets it will only get worse. This is just a small taste of what's to come."
A number of European companies have planted biofuel crops such as jatropha, sugar cane and palm oil in Africa and elsewhere to tap into rising demand. But the trend has coincided with soaring food prices and ignited a debate over the dangers of using agricultural land for fuel.
Producers argue they typically farm land not destined, or suitable for, food crops. But campaigners reject those claims, with FoE saying that biofuel crops, including non-edible ones such as jatropha, "are competing directly with food crops for fertile land".
ActionAid claimed this year that European biofuel targets could result in up to 100 million more hungry people, increased food prices and landlessness.
Natural disasters including floods in Pakistan and a heatwave in Russia have wiped out crops in recent weeks and intensified fears of widespread food shortages.
The United Nations has singled out biofuel demand as a factor in what it estimates will be as much as a 40% jump in food prices over the coming decade.
Estimates of how much land in Africa is being farmed by foreign companies and governments, either for food or fuel crops, vary significantly. The FoE report focuses on 11 African countries in what it sees as a rush by foreign companies to farm there. In Tanzania, for example, it says that about 40 foreign-owned companies, including some from the UK, have invested in agrofuel developments. It argues that such activities are actually raising carbon emissions in many cases because virgin forests are being cut down.
Lip service The report concludes: "While foreign companies pay lip service to the need for 'sustainable development', agrofuel production and demand for land is resulting in the loss of pasture and forests, destroying natural habitat and probably causing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions."
Sun Biofuels, a British company farming land in Mozambique and Tanzania and named in the report, criticised the charity's research as "emotional and anecdotal" and said that its time would be better spent looking into ways to develop equitable farming models in Africa.
Sun's chief executive, Richard Morgan, said his company's leasing of land in Tanzania had taken three years, during which 11 communities, comprising about 11,000 people, were consulted.
"I find it insulting from Friends of the Earth. Somehow it's indirect criticism of Mozambiquan and Tanzanian governments that they would allow this dispossession to take place," he said.
Morgan conceded that such a protracted process could raise expectations among local people of jobs and investment that could not be met, and said that it was often those negative testimonies that were collected by newspapers and NGOs. But he insisted that Sun was creating jobs where possible and that much of the biofuel production was destined for domestic markets in Africa rather than Europe.
"There's an opportunity here to get investment into local communities in an ethical way," he said.
In many cases, biofuel production was replacing or reducing illegal tree felling, Morgan added. "Tanzania has a large landless community felling forest land. If you give employment to those people as an alternative, there is a chance you can intervene commercially there in a good way."
Biofuel crops were being grown on land that was not intended for food production, he said: "Often we are growing trees on land already cut down for charcoal or in some cases tobacco. We haven't displaced anyone."
But FoE argues that "most of the foreign companies are developing agrofuels to sell on the international market". Its campaigners in Africa are demanding that African states should immediately suspend further land acquisitions and investments in agrofuels. Instead, they want to see fundamental changes in consumption habits in developed countries – be it making more use of public transport or adopting different diets.
Chandrasekaran said: "Biofuels is just a small part of what is happening. What needs to change are consumption patterns in the west. That means [eating less] meat and dairy, given more than a third of the world's agricultural land goes to feeding meat and dairy production. It also means [reducing] consumption of fuel."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/biofuels-land-grab-friends-of-the-earth

MALNUTRITION: decoded the genome of rice

Two companies say they have decoded the genome of rice, one of the most important of all food crops.
The information derived from rice will contribute to the study of other important cereals such as wheat and corn
Dr David Evans, Syngenta Syngenta and Myriad Genetics Inc say that knowing the complete set of biochemical instructions required to build the plant will enable the development of new strains with greater yields and better tolerance of harsh conditions.
The completed DNA sequence, of the variety Nippon-Bare, will not be published in a scientific journal or on the internet but will be made freely available to scientists who want to use it.
Dr Steve Briggs, of the Torrey Mesa Research Institute in California, US, where much of the decoding work was carried out, said: "We expect plant breeders who use this information to have an impact on new varieties in the next five years."
Major merger
Syngenta was formed last year by merging the agribusiness activities of Novartis and AstraZeneca. It is now the world's largest crop protection company and number three in the market for developing important commercial seeds.

A rice has been engineered to produce beta-carotene, a precursor our bodies need to make vitamin-A Its rice genome programme began in 1999 and was an initiative that ran in parallel with academic efforts.
The rice genome is spread across 12 chromosomes. It is made up of 430 million bases of DNA, representing approximately 50,000 genes, making it the second largest genome of any kind to have been sequenced to date.
"The rice genome is full of surprises and possibilities," Dr Steve Briggs told BBC News Online. "We still do not know what 20% of the genes do. Some of the rice genes are shared with other plants, some are unique.
"But the biggest surprise is that the overall gene architecture and sequence is nearly identical to that of cereals. This means we truly have a plant genetic blueprint."
The decoding of the genome is expected to provide the basic information required to engineer new types of rice with novel traits. It will also lead to the development of new pesticides aimed at specific pests.
'Golden rice'
Genetics has already produced a "golden rice" variety which has been engineered to produce beta-carotene, a precursor our bodies need to make vitamin-A.

The first, completed genome of a plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, was published last yearNormal rice has no beta-carotene and this has led to health problems in millions of people who rely on the plant as a staple food.
Dr David Evans, head of Syngenta's research and technology division, said: "Because of the similarity between different cereal crop plants, the information derived from rice will contribute to the study of other important cereals such as wheat and corn."
The international development agency ActionAid cautioned that novel plants produced with the new technology should not leave poor farmers in the developing world in the grip of big business.
"Syngenta must commit to sharing this work with developing countries' researchers and should not patent genes and DNA from this or any other plant genome," ActionAid campaigner Alex Wijertana said.
The first plant to be decoded was a small weed, Arabidopsis thaliana. It has a much smaller genome with just 26,000 genes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1138390.stm