Global and Local Perspectives on the Jatropha Plantations for Biodiesel in Sucopo, Yucatan, Mexico

Based on preliminary fieldwork data from Sucopo (municipality of Tizimin, Yucatan, Mexico), we analyze the local socioeconomic impacts from the establishment -and later abandonment - of 3,000 ha of jatropha plantations by Global Clean Energy Holdings. The information was obtained from interviews with Sucopo inhabitants and secondary sources. It is argued that the current global demand for “sustainable biofuels” has built on historical systems of resource extraction in the region (such as the henequen industry) which linked consumer demand in the global north to land, labor and natural resources in the global south. These linkages have fostered a growing dependence between local households, on the one hand, and global market forces, on the other, putting long-term food security and social and cultural capital at risk. By examining the jatropha plantations in the context of biofuel policies, operational practices on the ground and local socioeconomic impacts on the land and labor markets, wages, food security, and traditional village life, we describe and analyze distinct visions of sustainability held by the different stakeholders. We conclude that as long as global notions of sustainable biofuels fail to consider local ones, future biofuel projects in the area are likely to be short lived.