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26/09/2014 Now available: Report ‘The global Jatropha Curcas hype: What can we learn from the boom and bust of a miracle crop’ (19-20 June 2014)

The final report of the conference ‘The global Jatropha Curcas hype: What can we learn from the boom and bust of a miracle crop?’ held on 19 and 20 June 2014, in Utrecht, the Netherlands, is now available. The conference, organized by LANDac, the IDS group at Utrecht University, Van Vollenhoven Institute Addis Ababa University, Hivos, BothENDS and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), drew together a group of around 50 experts working on Jatropha. The focus of the conference was on the hype around Jatropha and see what we can learn from the boom and bust of a miracle crop or wonder crop. Studying processes that led to the initial boom of Jatropha as a commercial biofuel crop, as well as the circumstances that led to its abrupt decline and failure of many of the business projects provides us with valuable lessons for future hypes around miracle crops.

Besides this conference report, the organizers are currently drafting a policy brief based on the outcomes of the discussions.

The conference report can be downloaded here:
Report Jatropha 19-20 June 2014_final

The short documentary A very promising biofuel for Africa: Jatropha from 2007, highlights some of the drivers of the Jatropha business.