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Transport for Good

The Jatropha Project

TNT, WFP and local Malawian partner BERL (Bio energy Resources Ltd) are building a sustainable Jatropha business in Malawi that will give local smallholder farmers a new cash crop to grow and harvest that will create a reliable source of income.

Jatropha is a tree which can grow on waste land unfit for agriculture, and therefore is no danger to food production. Jatropha can also control the erosion of cultivated land and absorb CO2 from the air. The nuts from the Jatropha tree can be used to make various biological products. The seedcake can be used as organic fertilizer and in combination with the nut shells, it can be used as a replacement for firewood. The nuts themselves contain crude oil which can be used for lighting, cooking or engine fuel in rural areas. The crude oil can further be processed into glycerine (which can be used to make candles, soap, and cosmetics), and, most importantly, into biological fuels.

The cultivation of Jatropha tackles several challenges in one go:
 
  • The alleviation of poverty and protection from food shortages. By growing and selling the Jatropha nuts, farmers’ income levels will improve in a more sustainable way, providing food security.
     
  • It fights the financial problems in Malawi with the creation of an additional income for farmers, and the replacement of fossil-fuel import with bio-energy production.
     
  • Growing Jatropha trees has positive effects on the environment as it produces ‘green’ fuels, compensates for CO2 emissions an prevents deforestation.
     
  • It combats the energy crisis in Malawi as Jatropha produces sources of energy (e.g. candles and firewood).
 
The Jatropha project aims to alleviate poverty in third world countries by the most sustainable means possible. This fits seamlessly within TNT’s efforts to fight the root causes of hunger. And by the cultivation of Jatropha trees, TNT can compensate for its own CO2 emissions which will help TNT reach its goal to be carbon neutral in the year 2015. The Jatropha project is also completely aligned with WFP’s goal to support long term solutions to the hunger challenges.
 
Small holder farmers in Malawi will plant twenty-four million Jatropha trees in the first few months of 2009. If all goes according to planning, the operational proof of concept will be reached at the end of this year.
 

Production  Process   Jatropha Folder