The Rise, Fall and Potential Resilience Benefits of Jatropha in Southern Africa
The Rise, Fall and Potential Resilience Benefits of Jatropha in Southern Africa
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DOI：
10.3390/su6063615
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发表时间：
2014-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Fabricius, Christo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
von Maltitz, Graham;Gasparatos, Alexandros;Fabricius, Christo
麻疯树是最近在非洲南部推广的“奇迹作物”清单中的一种，这些作物被认为具有发展效益。这是基于高产量、低需水量、在边际土地上种植的能力和缺乏粮食竞争的承诺。在不到10年的时间里，获得了数万公顷的麻疯树种植园，种植了数千公顷，其中大部分现在没有使用或废弃。对麻疯树产量的高估加上对管理成本的低估可能是南部非洲大多数麻疯树项目失败的主要原因。然而，一些项目仍然幸存下来，并显示出可能长期可持续发展的迹象。我们考虑两个这样的项目，马拉维的一个以小农为基础的项目和莫桑比克的一个大型种植园。虽然它们的长期可持续性尚未得到证实，但这两个项目可能通过使家庭收入来源多样化和促进国家燃料安全来增强抵御能力。通过确定这些项目中似乎起作用的因素，我们可以深入了解为什么其他项目可能在南部非洲失败，以及该地区是否还有麻疯树的生存空间。从本质上讲，麻疯树还能增强地方/国家的恢复力吗？还是麻疯树的好处只是一个神话？
Jatropha is the latest in a list of "miracle crops" that have been promoted in southern Africa for their perceived development benefits. This was based on promises of high yields, low water requirement, ability to grow on marginal land and lack of competition with food. In less than 10 years, tens of thousands of hectares were acquired for jatropha plantations and thousands of hectares were planted, most of which are now unused or abandoned. Overestimations of jatropha yields coupled with underestimations of the management costs have probably been the prime contributors to the collapse of most jatropha projects in southern African. However, a few projects still survive and show signs of possible long-term sustainability. We consider two such projects, a smallholder-based project in Malawi and a large-scale plantation in Mozambique. Though their long-term sustainability is not proven, both projects may increase resilience by diversifying household income streams and contributing to national fuel security. By identifying what seems to be working in these projects we provide insights as to why other projects may have failed in southern Africa and whether there is still place for jatropha in the region. In essence can jatropha still enhance local/national resilience or are jatropha's benefits just a myth?