TY - JOUR
T1 - The political ecology of Jatropha plantations for biodiesel in Tamil Nadu, India
AU - Ariza-Montobbio, Pere
AU - Lele, Sharachchandra
AU - Kallis, Giorgos
AU - Martinez-Alier, Joan
PY - 2010/9/30
Y1 - 2010/9/30
N2 - Jatropha curcas is promoted internationally for its presumed agronomic viability in marginal lands, economic returns for small farmers, and lack of competition with food crops. However, empirical results from a study in southern India revealed that Jatropha cultivation, even on agricultural lands, is neither profitable, nor pro-poor. We use a political ecology framework to analyse both the discourse promoting Jatropha cultivation and its empirical consequences. We deconstruct the shaky premises of the dominant discourse of Jatropha as a 'pro-poor' and 'pro-wasteland' development crop, a discourse that paints a win-win picture between poverty alleviation, natural resource regeneration, and energy security goals. We then draw from fieldwork on Jatropha plantations in the state of Tamil Nadu to show how Jatropha cultivation favours resource-rich farmers, while possibly reinforcing existing processes of marginalisation of small and marginal farmers. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.
AB - Jatropha curcas is promoted internationally for its presumed agronomic viability in marginal lands, economic returns for small farmers, and lack of competition with food crops. However, empirical results from a study in southern India revealed that Jatropha cultivation, even on agricultural lands, is neither profitable, nor pro-poor. We use a political ecology framework to analyse both the discourse promoting Jatropha cultivation and its empirical consequences. We deconstruct the shaky premises of the dominant discourse of Jatropha as a 'pro-poor' and 'pro-wasteland' development crop, a discourse that paints a win-win picture between poverty alleviation, natural resource regeneration, and energy security goals. We then draw from fieldwork on Jatropha plantations in the state of Tamil Nadu to show how Jatropha cultivation favours resource-rich farmers, while possibly reinforcing existing processes of marginalisation of small and marginal farmers. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.
KW - Biofuels
KW - India
KW - Jatropha
KW - Marginalisation
KW - Political ecology
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2010.512462
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2010.512462
M3 - Article
VL - 37
SP - 875
EP - 897
JO - Journal of Peasant Studies
JF - Journal of Peasant Studies
SN - 0306-6150
ER -