Review by the Jatropha Alliance of the Swiss Aid Study: „Jatropha! – A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique“

Aug 2009

The study “Jatropha! – A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique” prepared by Justiça Ambiental (JA) et União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC) for Swiss Aid (referred in the following to as Swiss Aid Study) provides a very one-sided and negative picture of the Jatropha sector in Mozambique. The Jatropha Alliance therefore felt obliged to review the arguments put forward by the authors, and in short, the results are as follows:
• The study lacks scientific scrutiny
• The study criticizes claims that are not made by serious Jatropha growers and experts, i.e. it constructs “silhouette targets” that do not exist in reality
• The study presents imprecise arguments and depicts only the negative aspects and ignores well-established advantages of Jatropha cultivation
The details of their analysis are given in this paper.
The Jatropha Alliance strongly believes that the results of the study cannot be substantiated, and its conclusions are false to a very large extend. They urge the authors to revisit their arguments and we call on the public and the media not to distribute these false claims to a wider audience.
The members of the Jatropha Alliance – some of which also operate in Mozambique – all commit to the principles of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, which has already set a comprehensive framework for sustainable production of biofuels after a year-long global stakeholder process. They therefore see the picture drawn in this study as detrimental to our continued striving for the ecologically, socially and economically responsible cultivation of Jatropha.

By: Jatropha Alliance

 
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