FUELLING A GREENER FUTURE
Bio Energy Resources Ltd (BERL) is a Malawian company whose aim is to establish a national bio-fuel business within Malawi.
Formed in June 2006, BERL is establishing Jatropha curcas as an additional income crop for smallholder and commercial farmers to provide the raw materials for bio-fuel production. Jatropha curcas is a tree of the Euphorbaciae family, whose seeds contain about 30-35% oil, which can be extracted by crushing and expelling and refined to produce bio diesel.
In the short term, BERL will establish a community/commercial farmer based planting programme to plant Jatropha curcas trees for 10 years. This will provide the seed for rural-based expelling plants and refineries, to be built over the first 10 years of the programme. In the longer term, it intends to provide Malawi with products with increasing demand and be a leader in the supply of rural energy. There are extensive opportunities for the production of fuel and solid waste by-products, all adding value to the outputs. Up until now BERL has planted six million trees in 10 districts and will expand in these districts over the coming years.
There are four major crises currently threatening the modern world: the financial crisis, the energy crisis, the climate crisis and the food/poverty crisis. BERL wants to target all four of these areas with their integrated approach to ensure sustainability.
BERL will have a positive impact on the financial crisis by generating and saving foreign exchange earnings for Malawi. BERL will address the energy crisis by reducing dependence on fuel imports by producing an alternative local product.
Impact on the climate crisis will be achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the sequestration of the Jatropha trees and substituting fossil fuel with bio-fuel. Employment creation and additional income are other major benefits that will have a positive impact on the food/poverty crisis.
RESPONSIBLE GROWING, SETTING THE STANDARDS
In order to ensure that the social, economic and environmental impacts of BERL are positive, the cultivation models will be based upon good agricultural practice (GAP), and other relevant policies in:
Greenhouse gas emissions reduction: An important component of BERL’s strategy is the business’s contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport as well as carbon sequestration in Jatropha trees. This will be achieved through the creation and management of Jatropha plantations and the processing of by-products into fuel. BERL is in the process of obtaining a carbon credit certification to certify the project under the Voluntary Carbon Standard, an internationally accepted standard to qualify for carbon credits.
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No competition with food: As Jatropha will grow on even the poorest soil, BERL will ensure the crop is planted on land that is unsuitable for food production. Alternatively, Jatropha will be grown as boundary hedges around productive fields, or as contour hedges within the fields, aiding soil conservation. The project will deliberately seek to avoid land change by the participating communities in favour of Jatropha at the cost of food production. Certain land selection criteria must be met by the farmers before they can register with BERL to ensure that the best land will not be taken by Jatropha. Jatropha also fits in well with the existing farming system and crop calendar in Malawi, which helps to avoid potential overlaps with labour requirements. BERL is working with the UN WFP to monitor and evaluate the effect that Jatropha will have on communities. This will help to ensure that Jatropha production is not impacting on land for food production or affecting the price of food.
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Minimise impact on bio-diversity: BERL intends to minimise any negative impacts on bio-diversity from the growing of Jatropha. BERL is working with Bunda College of Agriculture to baseline and monitor the allocated land and implement measures to minimise any negative effects (before clearing any land to grow Jatropha).
Minimise impact on natural resources: BERL intends to minimise any negative impacts on natural resources from the growing of Jatropha. The soil and water within trial plantations will be monitored and measures implemented to minimise any negative effects.
Local development: Jatropha is ideally suited to the resource-poor smallholder farmer because it can thrive on local inputs and organic waste but requires only limited labour once established. Unlike high yielding, annual, fertilised, mechanically harvested feedstock, Jatropha requires little input during its 30-50 year lifespan. Jatropha is intended as an additional crop for farmers rather than as a replacement for existing crops. From a competitive perspective, the economy of scale is absent and, since there is no machinery necessary for this part of the process, this will give small farmers’ communities an improved opportunity in terms of competition. The involvement of the UN World Food Programme will also help to see how farmers’ income levels will change over the years during business implementation.
Labour conditions: BERL will abide by all Malawian labour laws.
No GM organisms: BERL will not use genetically modified seed to grow Jatropha.BERL’s example will facilitate in setting the standards for good practice in growing bio-energy crops in Malawi, specifically Jatropha curcas.
Minimise impact on natural resources: BERL intends to minimise any negative impacts on natural resources from the growing of Jatropha. The soil and water within trial plantations will be monitored and measures implemented to minimise any negative effects.
Local development: Jatropha is ideally suited to the resource-poor smallholder farmer because it can thrive on local inputs and organic waste but requires only limited labour once established. Unlike high yielding, annual, fertilised, mechanically harvested feedstock, Jatropha requires little input during its 30-50 year lifespan. Jatropha is intended as an additional crop for farmers rather than as a replacement for existing crops. From a competitive perspective, the economy of scale is absent and, since there is no machinery necessary for this part of the process, this will give small farmers’ communities an improved opportunity in terms of competition. The involvement of the UN World Food Programme will also help to see how farmers’ income levels will change over the years during business implementation.
Labour conditions: BERL will abide by all Malawian labour laws.
No GM organisms: BERL will not use genetically modified seed to grow Jatropha.BERL’s example will facilitate in setting the standards for good practice in growing bio-energy crops in Malawi, specifically Jatropha curcas.
