16 September 2014: 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. Ravi Prabhu, ICRAF Deputy Director General for Research, said the agreement expands possibilities for collaboration between ICRAF and Embrapa not just within Brazil, but also in other regions where both institutions have active programmes, such as Central America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

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. Jonathan Cornelius, Regional Coordinator, ICRAF in Latin America, said the agreement not only expands potential in the area of biofuels, but also in the realms of participatory research in, inter alia, silvopastoral systems, land rehabilitation and oil palm agroforestry. [ICRAF Press Release] [ICRAF Programme for the Development of Alternative Biofuel Crops]