At the beginning of 2008, three women completed the first phase of a research study for the South African National Energy Research Institute which asked the question: ‘Under what conditions can women benefit from the cultivation of bioenergy crops?’ Wherever we went we heard that jatropha curcas is the solution for Africa’s energy and
poverty troubles.

For some months I read and listened and visited jatropha projects, and this is what found out:

Jatropha curcas has been grown in many countries in Africa for many years as a hedge to keep animals away from crops, it contains minor toxins which are useful to keep animals and insects away, and as such it has not been invasive. In countries such as Zimbabwe, oil, soap and candles have been made from the oil, pressed out of jatropha seeds for about 20 years. These ‘wild’ hedges are not high yielding, but they are useful because they are well established and not labour intensive.

The key questions as I see them are: Why do you want to plant jatropha? What problem do you want jatropha to solve? What roles will men and women play?
Because the perspective and methods of cultivation (or the decision not to cultivate) will result from those answers. Growing jatropha to mitigate climate change will be quite different to growing jatropha for biodiesel for vehicles in the north, or growing jatropha for rural development and income generation. So the questions have to be very precisely answered. Let’s take some of the reasons in turn and see how the definition of the problem might influence the way in which jatropha (or any other bioenegy crop) is cultivated.

Climate change: If the farmer wants to mitigate climate change and reduce
greenhouse gases, then everything the farmer does should limit the emission of greenhouse gases in the cultivation cycle: the farmer might use low or no till methods to plant, she may use organic fertilizers and biological control of pests.

The farmer may use marginal land, not new land or forests, and will harvest rain water for irrigation.

The seeds may be hand picked and there will be few or no emissions in transporting the harvest: the product will be used locally. It will be pressed and used in a generator to supply electricity for local use. Women and
men could both be involved and benefit from each stage.

Peak oil: If jatropha (or any other oil-producing crop) is to be used in place of
oil, then there have to be vast quantities of the crop grown in order to produce enough oil to export for use in biodiesel internationally. In this case commercial
farms, using new land perhaps destroying forests for agriculture as has been done in the past, will be planted. Tractors and chemical fertilizers may be used, and machine picking would be efficient.

The seeds may be exported by land and
sea with the concomitant green house gas emissions. African farmers may lease their lands to commercial oil companies, or their land may be sold to oil companies.

Women farmers would have to look out for their interests and ensure that their ability to grow food was not compromised as has happened before in these kind of arrangements. In commercial cultivation, jatropha takes 2-4 years to yield seed, it takes 1 ton of water to produce 1 liter of biofuel and the first two years are labour intensive, as is the harvesting. It has been said that growers exaggerated production figures and that in India oil yields are less than 30% of the crop.

Women have called this kind of cultivation ‘Biodiesel for SUVs’ and have expressed concerns that the commercial growers may deplete the soil and destroy the forests which supply their fruit and fuelwood. They said: ‘Commercial production of biofuels may entrench hierarchical land and labour relations, trapping farm workers into perpetual subordinate relationships without their benefitting from the crops they grow’.
Energy security: If jatropha (or any other bioenergy crop) is cultivated in-country
to contribute to diversity in the energy mix, then the crop may be grown according to national priorities – more or less as the commercial crop above, only it will be processed and used in-country and not exported. National policy may decide to grow crops commercially but responsibly by using only marginal land, or insisting on intercropping with food. Countries may decide that no new land or forests may be used, and that water will be harvested for irrigation. They will also have to determine prices and use the crop to improve energy supply and trade balances.

Local farming traditions as well as experience with co-operatives and collectives are likely to determine men and women’s roles and benefits in country schemes.

Energy access: If jatropha is cultivated to solve the problem of access to energy and poverty alleviation, then it would make sense to use local seeds and continue growing hedges, or use marginal land; to harvest rainwater or use local sources of water, and also to use organic fertilizers and intercrop with food.

Farmers should know that there is a 2- 4 year waiting period before new plants
yield seeds that may be harvested and pressed for oil, so communities should
use the time to plan and obtain the technologies they want to use (a generator,
maize grinders, an electricity network to distribute lighting etc). Projects such as
the multi-functional platform have emphasized the role that women can play in
local production, and the benefits which women and men could enjoy from local
use.

One can see that the reason for growing energy crops can produce quite different sets of farming practices and gender relations.

So my conclusions were quite simple, I would argue that under particular conditions rural women can benefit from cultivating jatropha (or other oil bearing seeds) to address the need for energy services in some rural areas.

However the conditions are key and may be difficult to realize: The first is that women have to access to land, control over the land and resources and be able to command labour.

The second is that sustaining jatropha cultivation needs water, seed, fertilizers and labour, all of which may be in short supply. Thus a more likely condition for success is where jatropha has been grown as a hedge and the seeds can be harvested. The seeds should be pressed and the left-over cake should be used as a fertilizer because it is high in nitrates. The oil can be used locally – either as lamp oil, or to make soap or in a generator. The electricity from the generator should provide for local mechanization needs during the day, and other choices – such as lighting - at night. In other words,
local beneficiation and use may provide welcome energy services.

At the heart of biofuels debate lie land and labour rights, food security, power and
money. Women know this. Women farmers see themselves at the bottom of the rural hierarchy: they constitute a large group numerically, but they have little space to articulate their needs and even less power to influence the decisions and policy making.

Thus those of us working in poverty alleviation, energy services and access must be clear about the key resource issues including the availability of land, who owns, controls, and benefits from the cultivation of
jatropha curcas or other so-called energy crops, so that women have control over the energy services they need.

Wendy Annecke
Monitoring and Evaluation
GVEP International
Cape Town