Notes from Research Paper on Biofuels in Zimbabwe 

The growing of crops for fuel and energy production, the bio-fuels rush has caught on Zimbabwe. Although the pace is slow and the scale low, the government has been making frantic efforts to entice communal farmers and private commercial farmers to diversify their agricultural activities by growing jatropha or sugar cane to produce feedstock for biodiesel production. Considerable efforts and resources have so far been invested in that regard, hence, a National Biofuels Feedstock Production Programme was launched, a private company was formed to buy jatropha feedstock from communal farmers, trials and research is ongoing on biodiesel production, a biofuels processing plant was acquired and a Cabinet White Paper on Principle for Biofuels Development and Use in Zimbabwe was prepared and presented to Cabinet. This situation is indicative of the strong belief by the Government of Zimbabwe that biofuels may be the silver bullet to deal with the fuel shortages, energy security and to economically transform the lives of communal farmers.

The primary purpose of the policy and practice review paper is to assess the participation of community groups in biofuels production in Zimbabwe. The assessment is hypothetically based on the basis that monoculture farming for bio-fuels crop production may pose a threat to community livelihoods, land tenure systems, food security and generally environmental sustainability. The paper is based on field and desk research that was conducted by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA). In particular, field research was conducted in two farming communities namely Mutoko District where communal farmers have already been growing jatropha as a hedge and decorative plant at home as well as in Chegutu District where newly resettled farmers have been encouraged by government to grow jatropha. Conversely, the policy paper is also based on literature review of existing and proposed policies and legal frameworks in Zimbabwe related to energy and biofuels production, marketing and distribution in Zimbabwe. To give a comparative perspective on biofuels production in the region, the paper also gives an analysis of the policy and practical aspects of biofuels production in Mozambique and South Africa. In essence the research work was aimed at generating knowledge and advocating for a community responsive policy and legal framework on biofuels crops production in Zimbabwe.

From a practical perspective the paper profiles and critique government action in promoting agro-fuels production especially the proposed conversion of vast tracts of land into biofuels crop (sugar cane) plantations in the low veld. At the community level the paper states the alternative steps and methods adopted by communal farmers especially in Mutoko District to grow jatropha in marginal land and not the wholesale conversion of fields into monoculture plantations. The paper outlines implications of these measures on land tenure rights, food security, energy security and environmental security. Therefore, while the research results in this publication inform policy makers about the best strategies to deal with the issue of agro-fuels the research results are also important as a tool for creating community awareness on food, energy and environmental security. The communal farmers should be aware of the potential danger of monoculture given the land tenure systems of Zimbabwe and the current economic, social and political context.

In a nutshell, the key questions and issues that paper deals with are as follows; government position on promotion of biofuels feedstock production in communal or small scale farming areas and its sustainability as well as large scale commercial farms and the implications on the land tenure system, food security, energy security and environmental considerations in Zimbabwe. Further, the paper touches on the issue of investment in the agro-fuels sector in Zimbabwe especially in community based initiatives and private sector investment.  The paper also establishes the legal and policy position on agro-fuels production both from a national and regional perspective.

Therefore, the paper is a contribution by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) to the issues that require further and thorough investigation, examination and analysis so that a balance can be struck between the interests of the communities, energy security and food security, environmental sustainability and land tenure. The paper does not therefore exhaustively deal with all issues related to biofuels crop production.