UN-IFAD Commits US$1M for Pro-poor Biofuels R and D at ICRISAT

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has recently announced a 1.5 million dollar funding from the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (UN-IFAD) for its biofuel research and development projects. ICRISAT’s “pro-poor” biofuel project initiatives involve the facilitation of the use of biofuel feedstocks (sweet sorghum for ethanol, jatropha for biodiesel) by farmers and entrepreneurs. According to ICRISAT Director-General William Dar, “the project will support the farmers of the drylands with the latest research and research products, and link them with the biofuel market”. In this way, they can realize the benefits of the biofuel revolution in terms of improved livelihood and incomes. Among the project activities are: (1) “sensitizing farmers, research partners and stakeholders in the production/supply chain of biofuel production” to enable effective use of research outputs (i.e., improved crop cultivars, processing technologies, etc), (2) “facilitating the development of farmer-friendly procedures to enable them to take advantage of the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto protocol, to improve their livelihoods”.

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. Its website is at: http://www.ifad.org/governance/index.htm