le piège du jatropha

This report by Friends of the Earth International examines the promotion and cultivation of jatropha for biofuels in Mozambique. It argues that the industry is built on myths regarding the plant's ability to grow on marginal lands and its resistance to pests, and warns that large-scale production threatens national food sovereignty and community land rights.

• The claim that jatropha can produce high yields on poor, low-yield land is a myth in Mozambique; evidence shows it is almost exclusively planted on arable land using fertilizers and pesticides, yet still fails to meet promised growth rates.
• Jatropha is highly vulnerable to pests, fungi, and viruses, and there is evidence that these pests can spread to essential food crops such as maize, sorghum, and peanuts.
• Contrary to claims of minimal maintenance, jatropha requires significant irrigation, especially during the early development phase, even in regions with 800mm to 1400mm of rainfall.
• Small-scale farmers often plant jatropha on fertile land instead of food crops because they lack the infrastructure and time to manage additional plots, thereby endangering their own food security.
• The Mozambican government has facilitated land acquisitions for biofuel investors by manipulating the 1997 Land Law and using non-transparent processes that often exclude civil society and bypass community consent through the bribery of local chiefs.
• Industrial jatropha projects, such as those run by Energem and ESV Bio Africa, have struggled with financial crises, slow plant growth, and failure to deliver promised community benefits like schools and hospitals.
• The National Biofuels Policy and Strategy, approved in March 2009, was developed without civil society participation and lacks a strategic environmental impact assessment.

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} }