The Jatropha curcas agroforestry strategy of Mali Biocarburant SA

The Jatropha curcas agroforestry strategy of Mali Biocarburant SA By Ard Lengkeek 1,2 Mali Biocarburant s.a. Mali Biocarburant SA (MBSA) is a pro poor commercial enterprise based in Koulikoro Mali. MBSA converts Jatropha curcas L. nuts into biodiesel for the local petrol market. Its aim is to commercially produce biodiesel, reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development. The farmers union in Koulikoro is a major shareholder of MBSA and the union president is part of the MBSA board. PSOM the Netherlands, Programme for Cooperation with Emerging Markets, is one of the major investors. MBSA will increase on farm nut production of existing stock and will organize additional planting in living fences and on farmers land through agroforestry. In this pilot phase one turn key processing unit will be installed. An innovation is that this processing unit does not need water or electricity; it has a generator that produces electricity that runs on biodiesel. The units are transported in containers and are ready to use anywhere. The unit has a capacity of 40 tonnes of Jatropha nuts per week. This will generate about 10,000 litres of biodiesel, with an estimated value of Euro 0.70 per litre. The market prospects for biodiesel are enormous. According to the Director General of Shell Mali, Mali consumes about 60 million litres of diesel per month. Shell Mali has a market share of about 10%, or 6 million litres per month. Shell s worldwide policy is to mix fossil diesel with biodiesel up to 20% in the next 5-10 years, meaning a potential market of 1,2 million litres of biodiesel per month in Mali. Current operations will start with 40 000 litres per month which for comparison - is about 4% of potential supply to Shell Mali only. The results of this pro-poor business venture include: New additional source of income for poor rural inhabitants in semi-arid and arid areas; Smallholder farmers are shareholders in the Joint Venture; Knowledge and skills transfer for staff (~ 15) and farmers (~ 4,000) Commercial viability; Internal Rate of Return (IRR) after five years is favourable; Environmental conservation control of wind erosion, improved water infiltration, waste land recovery and reforestation; Increased food security through a cash crop, with the period of nut harvesting not interfering with other farm activities, and possibly through more productive farming systems (see bullet above); Climate change advantages replacement of fossil fuel by renewable energy, as well as carbon sequestration by Jatropha; National sovereignty substitution of expensive, insecure diesel imports by local production. 1 Manager Nut Supply Mali Biocarburant s.a. Koulikoro Mali 2 Jatropha specialist The Tree Domestication Team Wageningen The Netherlands Ard.Lengkeek@zonnet.nl 1

Conservative estimates for Mali are 20 units in the next 6 years producing about 1 million litres of biodiesel per month. This would provide income generating activities for about 80,000 farm families and provide direct employment to about 120 people. This concept will be expanded to other Sub Saharan African nations and it will dramatically change the energy sector in most of these countries. Further spin offs are the increased access to renewable energy sources, which leads to increased economic development in more industrial sectors. Agroforestry Agroforestry is about farmers growing trees on farm. Trees in agroforestry comprise all woody perennials such as trees, shrubs and lianas growing over 1.5 meters tall. Therefore if farmers cultivate Jatropha - be it in living fences, in hedge row cropping systems or in separate woodlots it is an agroforestry activity. More specifically, agroforestry has been defined as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees into farm and rangeland, diversifies and sustains smallholder production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits (Leakey 1996), but many more definitions exists... Planting crops, including tree crops, in any farming system, involves trade offs. If a particular species product or species service is more beneficial than that of another species, in a particular farm niche with a certain labour requirement, the farmer will plant that species. What the farmer perceives as beneficial is not always understood by the expert agronomist. Farmers weigh the benefits of species, through a combination of practice that has evolved over many generations and new knowledge. Providing additional information on the species is important for farmers to optimise farm production, as it helps farmers to further refine their choices in species diversity management, to improve their livelihoods and address their changing needs. Farmers often like partial solutions better than optimal solutions; Sustainability of production, risk-management and culture prevent farmers from focusing on high income and high production crops only. For instance, in Kenya, in the days that coffee was a highly profitable tree cash crop, farmers had a wide variety of other crops and trees on their farm. Particularly small scale farmers prefer a diversity of crops, including tree crops. Additive effects of species compositions may also contribute to higher production. Indeed Jatropha has been planted in living fences to control erosion, but there are many other examples too (e.g. Salim 2005 Faidherbia albida or Kwapong 2003 Albizia sp and Cacao). The prevailing view in ecology is that more diverse ecosystems are more stable (SGRP 2000) and more productive (Tilman et al. 2001). Tree domestication in Agroforestry Optimum and sustainable farm productivity requires quality germplasm for farmers, making sure a range of species and selected cultivars or provenances are available. In order to achieve the latter, both farmers and researchers domesticate trees. Domesticating agroforestry trees involves an accelerated and human induced evolution to bring species into wider cultivation through a farmer-driven and market-led process. High quality germplasm in agroforestry incorporates dimensions of productivity, fitness of purpose, viability and diversity. Domestication can occur at any point along the continuum from the wild to the genetically transformed state (ICRAF 2000). Most tropical tree species have not been domesticated intensively, with the exception of a number of fruit tree species (cacao, mango), some beverage tree species (coffee, tea) and some timber tree species (Eucalyptus sp). Most tree species, for fruit, timber, fodder 2

and medicine, have experienced little domestication. Jatropha domestication is currently ongoing at full swing and experiences with other tree domestication efforts because trees species are not similar to agricultural crops - are useful in increasing the efficiency of this process. Farmers need quality germplasm for the productivity and sustainability of their agroforestry ecosystems. The long-term viability of on-farm tree stands depends upon a wide genetic base providing the capacity to adapt to environmental fluctuations or changing farmer requirements, such as a change in species use, planting niche or pest outbreak. Moreover, many tree species are outbreeding. They therefore require a wide genetic base to withstand potential inbreeding depression, which may result from an increase in homozygosity and subsequent expression of unfavourable recessive alleles during generations of farmer propagation (Simons et al. 1994; Simons 1996; Brodie et al. 1997; Boshier 2000). There are no indications that these general factors are different for Jatropha curcas. Among other factors, inbreeding depression may result in losses in vigour, productivity, survival and seed set (Charlesworth & Charlesworth 1987; Mouna 1989; Griffin 1990; Turnbull 1996), leading to significant long-term viability concerns. Intraspecific genetic resource management therefore plays an important part in determining the ecological stability of farming systems based on agroforestry; Jatropha curcas production included. Until recently, trees were mainly grown for on-farm and local use, maybe with the exception of some marketable fruit and beverage species. But awareness of Jatropha growing as an economic enterprise is increasing as farmers look for alternatives to generate income. However, farmers are often unable to access (quality) germplasm (DFSC 2003). Due to this limited choice, farmers tend to plant what is available, which is often of inferior stock. To summarize; tree planting efforts are only successful if germplasm of these plants is available in sufficient quantities and of high genetic quality (Simons 1996; 1997). Jatropha curcas in Mali Although this discussion is geared towards Mali, clearly these facts, and gaps, result in some questions and answers that may serve as an example for other countries in which Jatropha has been introduced. The Founder Effect Jatropha curcas was introduced into Mali during the First World War, with the purpose of delivering oil for the colonial powers (IER 2006). It is very well possible that this species has not been introduced directly from it native range in Latin America but that it has been introduced through Cape Verde (PROTA 2007). Further, it is not clear if multiple introductions have taken place the first 75 years of its existence. Examples from other tree species introductions, (e.g. rubber and Grevillea) show that introductions often have a rather narrow genetic base, particularly if they took place before the possible genetic impacts of narrow introductions were widely appreciated. This could be the case for Jatropha curcas; being an exotic species to Mali, it s genetic diversity depends totally on the initial base of introduced material. As such it is important to know if multiple introductions took place at an early stage. Because the species has been widely planted in the landscape, new introductions of more diverse material at a later period may have had only a rather limited effect on overall diversity; more popularly phrased, such introduction, if they occurred, are likely to have drowned in the existing genepool. 3

Examples from other species also teach us that introductions have always been species based and not taken genetic variation into account. Furthermore, the introduction of Jatropha into Mali did not include provenance suitability tests, and t is very well possible that other provenances would perform better in this location. Germplasm pathway in Mali From its first and initial stand and possible additional introductions - Jatropha has found its way all around Mali. This process of expansion may have caused an additional narrowing of the genetic base, because seed collection processes are often responsible for genetic erosion, as explained below. Seed collection Seed collection often causes a major reduction in genetic diversity: Farmers and nursery managers often collect germplasm from a relatively small number of mother trees (Kindt 1997; Weber 1997; Holding & Omondi 1998; Lengkeek & Carsan 1999) much fewer than the recommended number of 30 to adequately capture genetic variation (Lengkeek et al 2005; Dawson & Were 1997). By narrowing the genetic base of a population, its adaptive capacity for changing user requirements and varying environments decreases. Seeds from solitary trees or small stands should be exempted from collection. The number of flowering trees around determines the effective population size to prevent genetic erosion. Seed sourcing from a single solitary tree is no exception (Lengkeek 2003). If introduced in a region, most germplasm for use in subsequent planting rounds is collected from the farmer s own or neighbouring farms, emphasising a danger of inbreeding in future generations (Kindt 2002; Lengkeek & Carsan 1999; Brodie et al. 1997). Farmers and nursery managers, at least of on-farm nurseries, often return to the same trees for their yearly seedling production (Lengkeek 2003). Long distance pollination could increase genetic diversity levels. Jatropha is presumed to be pollinated by moths (PROTA 2007) yet no data exists about this moth s foraging behaviour. Similar to other plant species, and particularly insect pollinated species, it is more likely Jatropha trees are pollinated by their neighbours then by more distant trees. Therefore the potential of narrowing the genetic variation through seed collecting practices cannot be dismissed. Seed and vegetative propagation Jatropha is also propagated vegetatively. The few data available comparing seed collection and vegetatively propagated seedlings resulted in comparable concerns of genetic erosion (Lengkeek 2003). Species that are reproduced vegetatively are vulnerable for clone losses, unless new clones are introduced or old clones redistributed. Generally, a certain number of individual clones respond more successfully to propagation and simple mathematical simulation models show that after some generations only a few clones may dominate an area (Lengkeek unpublished data). In short: with sexual reproduction genes are lost, while with vegetative propagation clones are lost. Farmer dynamics In natural populations there is always a fluctuation across time in stand sizes, as appropriate habitat expands and recedes. Diversity is an active phenomenon - it is ever changing over time and is not usually in equilibrium, as all its components fluctuate in number; it does not reflect any status quo, is not frozen and does not have a memory. On the one hand, biodiversity is a buffer against environmental changes and disturbances, while on the other hand it adapts to changes through selection. Farmer 4

dynamics, however, go beyond these natural cycles of expansion and contraction and may increase the chances for genetic bottlenecks. Discussion and Way Forward There are still a number of gaps concerning the history of Jatropha curcas in Mali, as well as in other countries in the region. However, we are not totally without knowledge: 1. Jatropha has been in Mali for relatively short time period, probably around a century (IER 2006); 2. It is possible that Jatropha was introduced to Mali through Cape Verde (increasing the chances for another genetic bottleneck) (PROTA 2007); 3. Jatropha has a longevity of 20 to 50 years (PROTA 2007); 4. Jatropha can (and has been) propagated vegetatively in Mali; 5. Knowledge on other tree species introductions pictures a risk of imperfect genetic constitution of the current Jatropha stands in Mali. These could be through imperfect initial introductions, through subsequent seed collection practices, and through farmer dynamics. All these factors together make it very doubtful that Jatropha curcas has adapted genetically to the local environments in Mali to such an extent that it has resulted in optimised local provenances. Rather, it is possible that Malian Jatropha consist of one single provenance. This hypothesis will help to better strategize ongoing domestication activities. An exception: If other exterior introductions have taken place at other locations from the initial introduction, and if these introductions have been in empty areas, there is the change of further provenances being present in Mali (and subsequently all types of intermediates through mixing). What can we do with current knowledge about Malian stands? It would be interesting to test current Jatropha stands from various locations to see if there are indeed genetic differences that are substantial enough to determine Malian provenances (Lengkeek & Sidibe 2007). A number of Malian stands should be tested against material from the native range and from Cape Verde, using genetic marker technology. Its perceived entry point in Mali, Kita (IER 2006), should be part of this analysis. This research will reveal the history of Jatropha in Mali. Additionally, molecular genetic data can be used to increase the understanding of genetic resource management in agroforestry systems. Further and this is already ongoing with many players in Mali is to agronomically test exterior quality germplasm of Jatropha curcas against local material. This should include material from its native range as well as bred varieties from commercial companies or from agricultural research stations. While collecting from the native range it is crucial to: 1. Capture sufficient genetic diversity. Tree seed collection guidelines can be obtained from any competent tree seed centre and should be adhered to. This is needed to ensure a wide genetic base to withstand potential inbreeding depression. Without such a basic requirement (basic for tree species at least), selection for favourable traits such as production, oil content and/or seed size will not reap benefits. Selection may - depending on the heritability of the selected traits - give an initial positive response due to selection of superior genotypes, but this positive effect could be lost in subsequent generations due to a narrowing of the genetic base. 2. Select a suitable provenance or variety. In the case of provenances it is generally advised to select a well performing diverse provenance. There is no need to mix 5

provenances, as mixing may cause outbreeding depression. A field test will be needed to confirm suitability for location. Commercial or research bred varieties should be genetically diverse as well, since farmers cannot afford to negotiate on the long-term viability and ecological stability of their farm. Having selected a well performing provenance or commercial variety for further distribution, it should be clear that supply is a continuous process. With the large amount of Jatropha trees in place, introgression into improved stands cannot be avoided. Agroforestry activities of MBSA The Intitute Economique Rurale and MBSA will, together with partners, have recently started to conduct research and development activities on farmers fields and on station (Lengkeek & Sidibe 2007). Building on the vast experience in Mali and other countries MBSA will among others - at the immediate term; Improved management of living fences; Planting provenances or varieties with expected quality in productivity, fitness of purpose, viability and diversity; Planting Jatropha under expected agronomic and socio economic conditions; And at the medium and long term; Planting superior provenances and / or varieties; Using scientifically tested improved agroforestry / agronomic practices; Planting under objectively verified improved socio economic conditions. As mentioned earlier, although this paper is geared towards Mali it may serve as an example for other countries, particularly for countries where Jatropha is not endemic. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Mobibo Sidibe of the Intitute Economique Rurale for discussions leading to this paper and Hugo Verkuijl of MBSA and Ian Dawson of The Tree Domestication Team for review. Full list of references can be obtained from the author. 6