This is what people in the first group, ready to take up Jatropha cultivation for biofuel, reported. They have been contacted by a Belgian citizen, who has obtained funds from the co-operation and development department of a university in Brussels. The purported objective would be to provide sufficient fuel to run the power generator of the Barsalgo local council, which supplies the entire town with electricity. To this end the “project” has already invested in a tree nursery with 66 000 Jatropha plants and in the construction of out-buildings for advanced technical equipment: a steam powered press ( connected to a water boiler that feeds it with steam), a filtering device with 15 successive filters and a storage building. Quite sufficient to impress visitors and farmers and make them feel confident !

The project seems attractive, in particular since the fuel it is supposed to generate is intended for local needs. The farmers in charge told me that part of the Jatropha plants would be used to grow hedges and the remainder would be attributed to the restoration of land which has been abandoned, because other cultivation had become impossible.

The plants would be sold at 60 CFA/unit and farmers would pay back their loans with their harvest. They believe it will be possible to retrieve seeds as of the first year. When I asked them what price they would get for the Jatropha seeds, their answer was simple: The price has not yet been set! It will depend on the going rate of the market. Some hope to get more than 100 CFA francs/kg. Others do not expect more than 60 CFA francs. All are, however, convinced that every Jatropha tree will yield 2 kg of seeds per year, from the first or second year, although studies show that it takes five years before the tree reaches its full potential.

I recommended them to primarily use their plants for hedges, because in this they will not be losing, even if the production does not live up to their expectations. The hedges will protect their fields. The restoration of depleted soils by planting Jatropha is a noble undertaking, I told them, but a difficult one. Let me know if you succeed !

But if, in doing so, you expect to earn as much money from the arid soils as from the good ones and if you reckon with these earnings to feed your family, be careful ! Start by planting a small area and check your returns. You will probably not see the same yields from the poor soils as from the good ones around your fields.

I realised that this message did not pass. The dice had already been cast. The Jatropha has been held up for them as the miracle plant which will grow anywhere, will generously deliver the expected quantities in whatever soil and, in addition, will enable them to restore the depleted land around Barsalgo up to a 20 km range.

The following day I had an opportunity to discuss with a group of some 20 women, who are trying to develop market gardening. At the end of our meeting I asked them a few questions to try and get a better understanding of the situation of these rural people and the state of their land. From their answers it became clear that the population remaining in this area has been left to its own devices and has been unable to adapt to the demographic pressure. As the population rises, there is no longer enough land to lay fallow, a practice that is essential to traditional farming.

With the growing population, the peasants have cleared new land, felling large numbers of trees to increase their farming acreage. At the same time though, the demand for fire wood (for heating water, cooking, brewing millet beer) has gone up with the rising number of inhabitants … and therefore there is at present a shortage of wood. All wood by-products, that could have fertilised the fields if left on site, are now being burnt for household needs and the land is worn out.

You may retort : but will not the Jatropha make up for the loss of fire wood? Yes, 50 years from now, when its yield of nuts and seeds will have become insufficient! In the meantime there is an urgent need to assist this population and advise them on how to nurture their soils, by planting in zaï pockets (adding good compost) and laying out stone lines for rainwater retention. To start these people off on a project, where there is no guarantee for success, is to divert farmers from their prime occupation: “to feed their country and themselves”. What they need is a project that helps them adapt to today’s realities and do everything they can to regenerate the soil of their land.”

To me one thing is clear: “If the Jatropha is allowed to spread in Africa, it will be turning farmers away from their most important vocation of producing food for themselves and for the urban population of their region. The survival of both the rural and the urban population will be at risk.”

The Jatropha is indeed a cancer that threatens Africa !

Koudougou, June 15th 2010
Maurice Oudet
Director, SEDELAN