le piège du jatropha

The report investigates the reality of jatropha production in Mozambique, challenging the narrative that it is a sustainable 'miracle crop' for marginal lands. Through case studies and interviews, it finds that jatropha is typically grown on fertile land, displacing food crops and endangering food security for the 87% of Mozambicans who are subsistence farmers. The document highlights significant failures in industrial projects, including low yields, high pest vulnerability, and broken promises of community development. It also criticizes the Mozambican government for manipulating land laws to favor foreign investors, leading to land grabs and the marginalization of local communities.

• The claim that jatropha grows well on low-yield or poor soils is a myth; in Mozambique, it has been planted on arable lands using fertilizers and pesticides, yet still fails to meet promised growth rates and yields.
• Jatropha cultivation threatens food sovereignty because subsistence farmers often plant it instead of food crops due to limited land and labor capacity, which is further constrained by a lack of basic infrastructure.
• The crop is highly vulnerable to pests, fungi, and viruses, and there is evidence that jatropha pests can spread to essential food crops such as maize, sorghum, and peanuts.
• Contrary to claims of minimal maintenance, jatropha requires significant irrigation during its early development phase, even in regions with 800mm to 1400mm of rainfall.
• The Mozambican government has manipulated the 1997 Land Law through unconstitutional decrees to weaken community land rights and facilitate land acquisitions for foreign investors.
• Industrial jatropha projects, such as those by Energem and ESV Bio Africa, have struggled with financial crises, delayed wages for workers, and failed to deliver promised community infrastructure like schools and hospitals.
• The National Biofuels Policy and Strategy, funded by the World Bank, lacked transparency and deliberately excluded civil society participation during its development.
• Large-scale jatropha production risks increasing the country's ecological footprint by replacing natural forests, which act as carbon sinks, with monocultures.

APA

Ribeiro, D., & Matavel, N. (2010). le piège du jatropha. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20-foei-jatropha-fr-lr.pdf

Chicago

Ribeiro, Daniel, and Nilza Matavel. le piège du jatropha. Friends of the Earth International, 2010. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20-foei-jatropha-fr-lr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ribeiro |first1=Daniel |last2=Matavel |first2=Nilza |title=le piège du jatropha |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=September 2010 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20-foei-jatropha-fr-lr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ribeiro2010pige, author = {Ribeiro, Daniel and Matavel, Nilza}, title = {{le piège du jatropha}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2010}, month = sep, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20-foei-jatropha-fr-lr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }