ICRAF, Embrapa Strengthen Cooperation on Alternative Biofuel Crops

Manoel Teixeira de Souza, head of agroenergy with the Brazilian
Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) (left) and
Ravi Prabhu, ICRAF deputy director general for research,
sign the cooperation agreement between Embrapa and ICRAF,
on 19 August 2014

16 September 2014. Nairobi, Kenya. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) have signed a cooperation agreement that builds on the relationship between the two institutions. 

ICRAF is implementing a four-year Programme for the Development of Alternative Biofuel Crops, with partners in South Asia, Latin America and Africa, including Embrapa, and with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

The programme aims to conduct research and development along biofuel value chains, while improving food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. 

In Brazil, the programme focuses on research gaps that limit the development and scaling up of macaúba value chains. The macaúba, whose tree is drought-tolerant and can grow in poor soil, grows nontoxic oil-bearing fruits that can be used for producing animal feed, fuel briquettes, activated charcoal and cosmetics.

ICRAF is also partnering with Embrapa to develop silvopastoral and agroforestry systems that integrate food crops and/or livestock with macaúba trees, which would benefit smallholder producers.