(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

of Merina Dakar, which is a decentralized elected authority in charge of assigning land,
to obtain a concession of 200 ha for jatropha plantation. However, the local population
was divided on the project, between those who were attracted by the promises made
by the company, and others, including the chief of Beude-Dieng, who were more
sceptical. The issue was eventually sorted by creating an association named
Cooperative Agricole of Beude Dieng (CABD) for the development of jatropha which
were granted 60 ha. This association was joined by 216 members of the village and
entered into a contractual agreement with SBE to cede the land to the company in
exchange of wells, an irrigation system, jatropha plants, technical support, diesel for
the water pumping, fertilizers and pesticides. This means that each small-holder in this
association would keep on working on his plot of land, but would give the control over
production.
SBE also committed to buy the fruit of the jatropha at a fixed price (100 Euros/ton for
the dry seed and 67 Euros/tonne for the dry fruit inclusive of the external wrapping) for
15 years. In exchange, members of the association made their workforce available for
work on the plantation such as maintenance of the irrigation system, planting of
seedlings, cultivating and harvesting. The plantation was designed to ensure
intercropping (peanuts, millet and market gardening); additionally, a 4 ha garden space
for the cultivation of food crops was put aside within the 60 ha area to produce surplus
for the local food market.
The contract was supposedly signed for a test phase of 5 years (2009/2014) on 60 ha.
However, not all members of the association know exactly when it started nor are able
to explain its clauses. Details of the contract ceding the land to the company and
regulating the relationship between the company and the association are not clear to
many farmers. Throughout this process, as far as it was possible to investigate, no
impact assessment was realised.
Those who rejected the project were pressured and intimidated, and were called by
the local authorities, such as the sub-prefecture and the Rural Community, which tried
to convince them of the benefits of the project. A woman received a fine because she
did not agree with her husband’s choice and dared to remove plants and the irrigation
scheme.
According to the villagers, since the program has started, the jatropha production was
purchased only once: about 6 tons of dried fruit that for a total amount of 250000
FCFA (€ 381). The project is facing several problems according to the information
provided by the villagers interviewed. Jatropha and food crops yields have fallen
sharply. Jatropha has grown but seeds don’t produce the 30% of oil required for the
investment to be economically viable. Jatropha is thus not producing enough to
generate revenue. At the same time, jatropha plants hamper peanuts and millet
intercropping to develop and grow because of the shadow. According to a farmer, it
was possible to get 320 kg of peanuts per hectare before the introduction of jatropha
and it is only possible to produce 50 kg on the same area today; watermelon does not
work anymore. For another villager, where he could produce on his 5 hectares plot 3.5
to 4 tons of peanuts and 2.8 tons of millet, he now only gets 800 kg of peanuts and
200 kg of millet. These production losses are also related to the fact that the irrigation
system does not work properly. The new plantation has problems with invasive
animals such as termites, nematodes, lepidopteron larvae, the worst being ground
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