On 16 and 17 February 2009, the fourth World Jatropha Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference presented all the trends and shifts occurring in the Jatropha value chain, bringing together on a single platform, the relevant expertise to discuss and analyse the present and future dynamics of Jatropha from a technological and socio-economic angle.

It also offered great opportunities for SNV to network and cultivate valuable relationships with key decision makers in Jatropha community as well as to identify key players in the Asian Region to develop the biofuel value chain.

Jatropha grows fast and it seems that the biofuel sector attracts a lot of attention but research progresses are slow and production development has not reached the expectations. So what’s new then? The enthusiastic messages about the miracle plant have disappeared to become more realistic and objective. First planting experiences on farms (large, medium and small scale) are showing their results and yields expectation are far beyond assumption, not mentioning business plans in the trash. Stakeholders agree that Jatropha production requires much more attention and technical skills, as claimed three or four years ago, and that Jatropha must be selected according to local condition. Even the scope of Jatropha oil export (to EU and USA) is regarded as long term objective, if any. Investors are reserved to start (or to continue) investing without guarantee on results. The other big question is “what’s the real price of Jatropha oil on the market?”

So, is it the end of Jatropha apogee? No, of course... The general message is now “small is beautiful” rather than “big is fantastic”, the research is ongoing and interesting results are coming up, actors from the private sector want to create better relationship with small producers and going step by step implementing their business model, setting up decentralised processing units (close to production areas) are considered and the end-use consumption of biofuel should benefit producers and citizens from land of origin (policy development). Yet, from a smallholder cash crop perspective, there is plenty of work for SNV in value chain development and inclusive business concept, not mentioning policy support and knowledge development!
There were 21 presentations, covering four main topics:
1) Practitioner’s experiences; 2) Production models and technologies, 3) Planting material and breeding, 4) Finance and Investment perspectives.

100 participants joined the conference, coming from different countries, in the region such as India, Vietnam and Malaysia, abroad the region such as Brazil, the Netherlands and Italy.
SNV was the only NGO at the conference, the participation of SNV in the conference has brought four important results:
 
• SNV has accessed to the latest research development on Jatropha’s production methods and processing equipment technology;
• SNV has talked with agronomists and scientists, key investors and venture capitalists, biodiesel refiners, seed and oil sellers, engineers, consultants, government officials and representatives of NGO’s.
• SNV has identified key players in the Asian Region especially in countries of interest and presented SNV approach to related stakeholders.
• SNV has increased its knowledge on market demand, trends and perspective for the Jatropha value chain.

Along side of the conference, there was an initiative from GEXSI to create a “Jatropha Sustainable Biofuels Alliance”  to support sustainable production, represent the Jatropha industry, advocate and develop strategic alliances with private end user (e.g. airlines) and providing services for the industry such as data base development, consulting and forum moderation. This Alliance is very interested in getting on boad institutions like SNV to support private sector initiatives while insuring sustainability criteria and enhancing small holders’  benefits.

More information can be obtained at:

• SNV Jatrova development in Vietnam (PDF)
• SNV approach toward biofuel development: a Biofuel fact-sheet from SNV Lao PDR. (PDF)