A review of the sustainability of Jatropha cultivation projects for biodiesel production in southern Africa: Implications for energy policy in Botswana

• Published in: Agriculture, ecosystems & environment Vol. 246; pp. 314 - 324
• Main Authors: Kgathi, Donald L., Mmopelwa, Gagoitseope, Chanda, Raban, Kashe, Keotshephile, Murray-Hudson, Mike
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.08.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Agricultural economics; Agricultural land; biodiesel; Biodiesel fuels; Biodiesel production; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Biofuels; Biomass; Botswana; Business; business enterprises; carbon cycle; Climate; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Cost analysis; Crop yield; Cultivation; Development policy; Developmental stages; Economic analysis; Economic conditions; Economic development; economic sustainability; employment opportunities; Energy; Energy policy; Energy security; Environmental impact; exports; feedstocks; Flowers & plants; Food; food crops; Food security; foreign exchange; fuel production; Fuels; Greenhouse gases; income; input costs; Jatropha curcas; Jatropha projects; Land rights; Land use; land use change; Local communities; Plantations; prices; Raw materials; Return on investment; Security; seed yield; Social impact; Southern Africa; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Water requirements; Western Africa; South Africa; Western Africa; Botswana; Jatropha projects; Energy policy; Biodiesel production; Southern Africa; Sustainability; Botswana
• ISSN: 0167-8809; 1873-2305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2017.06.014

•Most Jatropha biofuel projects performed poorly due to lack of economic viability.•Large-scale Jatropha projects provided employment opportunities to farm workers.•Jatropha large-scale projects resulted in loss of land rights of local communities.•Jatropha production following land-use change resulted in −ve impacts on climate change.•Large-scale Jatropha projects resulted in −ve impacts on biodiversity. Jatropha curcas L. biofuel development is considered a strategy for achieving energy security, climate change mitigation, foreign exchange savings and economic development. This paper reviews the experiences of some southern African countries with the impacts of Jatropha biofuel development on sustainability, with a view to providing lessons for biofuel development policy for Botswana. The review has shown that most of the large commercial plantations planned to produce jatropha seed for home consumption and export were not economically viable mainly due to low seed yield, high cost of production, delayed production and uncompetitive feedstock prices. On the other hand, smallholder-based jatropha biofuel projects were economically viable due to their low input costs. Analysis of social impacts showed that jatropha production has been associated with loss of rights to land, low compensation levels, and compromised food security where land and other production inputs were diverted from food crops to jatropha production. Positive social impacts in some countries included increased employment opportunities and incomes. Jatropha production is associated with environmental impacts such as loss of biodiversity, high water requirements and high carbon debts resulting from conversion of land. Positive environmental impacts included high energy return on investment and high GHG savings when Jatropha is cultivated on abandoned agricultural fields as revealed by research in some parts of West Africa. Policy considerations for the Government of Botswana include: providing support to biofuel projects at their early stage of development, discouraging large plantation business models until such time that research in Botswana produces high seed-yielding Jatropha varieties, introducing legal safeguards for protection of land rights of local communities, and ensuring that land-use change and high carbon debts are minimized as they have adverse impacts on biodiversity and climate change.