Abstract:
The early 2000s witnessed a global awareness on adoption of renewable and environmental friendly energy with anticipated socio-economic benefits in developing countries. In Zambia, investments in biofuel feedstock mainly focused on smallholder production using out-grower schemes. Jatropha curcas. L. (Jatropha) was the main bioenergy crop adopted for production in the out-grower schemes. In addition to producing biofuel, Jatropha, branded a “poor-mans” crop, was claimed to improve rural livelihoods, grow on marginal land, have minimum input requirements and adapt to varied climatic zones and soil types. Nonetheless, recent studies have reported abandonment of Jatropha production the world over, including Zambia. This study therefore investigated the barriers to continuity of Jatropha production in Chibombo District of Zambia. Using snowball sampling technique and household survey, 110 smallholder farmers were selected for the study. Data on the effectiveness of out-grower schemes for Jatropha production among the smallholders who have continued or discontinued with Jatropha production were collected using face-to-face questionnaire administration and interviews. Furthermore, an assessment of the environmental and socio-economic implications of producing Jatropha using out-grower schemes, the costs and benefits involved in jatropha production and the effects of out-grower production of Jatropha on food security and land tenure were conducted. The collected data were analysed using non-parametric (summated rating scales principles, Chi-square) statistics. From the findings, more than ninety percent of the respondents reported that they have not earned any income from the sale of Jatropha due to lack of market. Additionally, all the respondents have not used Jatropha oil as a source of energy. Consequently, 97.3% of the respondents have discontinued production of Jatropha. It was also established that out-grower production of Jatropha had caused significant deforestation with 24.5% of the respondents opening up new forest land for Jatropha production. However, more than 90% of the respondents reported that Jatropha did not affect their food production and that they still have their land i.e. customary land rights are still held in the community. The general conclusion was that out-grower production of Jatropha in Chibombo District was ineffective. In addition to the environmental and socio-economic factors, abandonment of Jatropha production in Chibombo was mainly driven by lack of market for the produce. This was merely as a result of non-commitment of the sponsoring firm to the contractual agreements between the sponsoring firm and the smallholders. These occurrences were due to non-existent of policies and legal frameworks that regulate out-grower schemes. To achieve optimal performance of out-grower schemes in production of Jatropha for bioenergy in Zambia, there is need for a supporting policy environment and legal frameworks that enforce compliance to the contract agreements, create market opportunities and regulate prices for the produce, and monitor activities of the concerned parties.
