Several developments unfolded recently in global Jatropha commercialization efforts. In the Central American country of Guatemala, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels is working with SG Biofuels (www. sgfuel. com) to develop sustainability standards for Jatropha farming.

In 2009, SG Biofuels established a community farming initiative in Guatemala with 385 farmers working 1400 acres of marginalized land. While many Jatropha business models have failed in recent years, Jatropha has not. The plant did not fail — many businesses did.

"SG Biofuels wanted to find a community to partner with, not take over. SG Biofuels worked with community leaders, gave them seedlings, donated fer­tilizer, technical support, and advice. SG Biofuels contracted with the farmers for all of their production. SG Biofuels emphasized that the importance of the con­tract cannot be understated… It helps create rural entrepreneurship,” CEO Haney has said.

Haney pointed out that in places outside the United States, some land is community-owned, not privately held — a foreign concept to most Americans. Some of this land, especially in the subtropics, was once rainforest, cut down long ago for cattle pastures, but after years of intense grazing the land has become stressed and marginalized. "It is abandoned pastureland so when a company like ours can come in with a new technology like this — the community sees it as a very good economic opportunity,” Haney said. Contracts signed by the community farmers lock in their profit and take away the execution risk. According to Haney, "There is a floor in the off-take agreement, it’s indexed to a couple of different factors”.

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