Jatropha-based biofuels have undergone a rapid boom-and-bust cycle in southern Africa. Despite strong initial support by governments, donors, and the private sector, there is a lack of empirical studies that compare the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of Jatropha’s two dominant modes of production: large plantations and smallholder-based projects. We apply a rapid ecosystem services assessment approach to understand the impact of two Jatropha projects that are still operational despite widespread project
collapse across southern Africa: a smallholder-based project (BERL, Malawi) and a large plantation (Niqel, Mozambique). Our study focuses on changes in provisioning ecosystem services such as biofuel feedstock, food, and woodland products that can have important effects on human well-being locally. Qualitative information is provided for other regulating and cultural ecosystem services. Although at this stage no impact is tremendously positive or negative, both projects show some signs of viability and local poverty alleviation
potential. However, their long-term sustainability is not guaranteed given low yields, uncertain markets, and some prevailing management practices.
Biofuels have been promoted in southern Africa since the mid-2000s for national energy security, rural development, and economic gains from export (Mitchell 2010, Gasparatos et al. 2013a, 2015, von Maltitz et al. 2014). Jatropha curcas L (Jatropha) has been the feedstock that has gathered the greatest attention from governments, donors, and the private sector (Romijn et al. 2014, Gasparatos et al. 2015). Jatropha is a shrub/small tree that produces seeds with high oil content (> 30%; Henning 2009). Though toxic for humans and animals, Jatropha is suitable for the production of pure plant oil fuel and biodiesel (Lu 2009).

Enthusiasm for Jatropha was largely driven by numerous claims including the potential to obtain high oil yields (> 1600 L/ha), drought-hardiness, immunity to pests/diseases, and suitability to grow on marginal/degraded lands (Jongschaap et al. 2007). Subsequent studies confirmed that Jatropha is drought-hardy, but requires good soils, reasonably high rainfall, and good agricultural management to achieve optimum yields (Trabucco et al. 2010).

Despite this lack of agronomic knowledge, Jatropha was adopted across southern Africa for both large-scale commercial plantation- and smallholder-based production (von Maltitz and Setzkorn 2013). As early as 2008, 52 Jatropha projects were operational in southern Africa, with an estimated 111,000 ha planted (GEXSI 2008). However, the area actually planted may have been exaggerated (Locke and Henley 2013).

Eventually most Jatropha projects in Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia collapsed because of numerous interconnected reasons ranging from overoptimistic business plans, to low yields, time-lags in production, underestimated labor/maintenance/transport costs, lack of markets, changes in investor behavior following the 2008 financial crisis, lack of appropriate policy frameworks to regulate the biofuel sector, and institutional barriers posed by national governments (von Maltitz et al. 2014, Gasparatos et al. 2015).