Biofuel investments have been fostered as an attempt to mediate the energy crisis and climate
change, and as a way to assist rural development. Great hopes have been pinned on the oilbearing,
“drought resistant” non-edible tree Jatropha curcas (Jatropha) through both its smalland
large-scale cultivation. However, the Jatropha sector is still young and empirical analyses
on the potential impacts on rural livelihoods and improved access to energy are largely lacking.
This hampers the development of effective policy to promote the use of biofuel for sustainable
development.
This research presents new integrated mixed-method, multi-level assessments of the
implications of the Malian Strategy for Biofuels Development for the promotion of Jatropha in
Mali: a sub-Saharan African country that has led the region’s biofuel policy initiatives. Semistructured
interviews were undertaken with government departments, international
organisations, private sector representatives and NGOs. National level data, household
questionnaires and participatory methods for livelihoods assessments were integrated using
conceptual frameworks of discourse analysis, stakeholder analysis and policy implementation
and impact analysis. A multi-scale approach to assess the role of Jatropha as a tool for
reducing energy poverty and fostering rural development is adopted. In the decade of the
United Nations’ “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative, lessons from Mali on these vital energy
and development issues could usefully inform the adaptation and transfer of successful
approaches and practices to other sub-Saharan countries.
Livelihoods data show that households involved with NGO or private sector activities linked to
Jatropha cultivation can gain financial capital due to income from the sale of Jatropha seeds
and soap and reduce household expenditure. When grown on a small-scale as a living fence,
Jatropha demarcates property and can reduce soil erosion. Projects focusing on Jatropha use
for rural electrification offer potential to improve energy access. However, farmers’ difficulties
in establishing successful plantations are observed and Jatropha oil supplies remain insufficient
for these benefits to materialise. National-level interviews and policy analysis show that
mainstreaming internationally agreed principles into national policies are vital to attracting
monetary, institutional and technical support from international organisations and donors.
However, gaps between policy targets, actual yields and land cover are identified. The limited
availability of Jatropha oil supplies hampers the substitution of national consumption. While
small-scale cultivation does not threaten food security, ambitious land cover targets set within
national policies can risk land use shifts away from food towards biofuel production.
The findings presented in this thesis advance academic understanding of the opportunities and
challenges of biofuels for sustainable development, contributing to key debates on food versus
fuel, large-scale land acquisitions, rural development and fossil fuel substitution potential. A
theoretical contribution is made by extending the use of the Sustainable Livelihoods
Framework by incorporating policy and stakeholder analysis into a more integrated analysis of
the impacts of biofuels on rural and energy development. The policy analysis advances the
understanding of the role of national policy instruments in the uptake of biofuel activities.
To address the identified policy gaps and move towards the development of a Jatropha biofuel
industry that meets pro-poor development objectives, the following policy measures and ways
forward are proposed, to:
(i) Adopt a cohesive mix of country-specific policies that integrate biofuel promotion
with rural development concerns, private sector needs and international donor
priorities;
(ii) Promote coherent institutional frameworks as well as strong partnerships and
effective dialogue between state departments, the private sector and NGOs;
(iii) Enhance monitoring of biofuel programmes and projects; and
(iv) Establish and enforce adequate legal and regulatory frameworks governing private
biofuel investments, access to land and water resources in order to avoid threats
to food security and land tenure disputes.
By better linking policies to local-level practices, these measures offer the potential to achieve
more sustainable outcomes.
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