Losing the plot. The threats to community land and the rural poor through the spread of the biofuel jatropha in India

This report looks at the impact of India's jatropha targets on rural communities, focusing on the state of Chhattisgarh - a traditional rice-growing area where the crop is being grown. The report finds that thousands of tribal and lower caste Indians have been forced from community lands which they have relied on for generations. Without consultation or consent, common lands traditionally used for livestock grazing and subsistence farming by some of India's poorest communities has been forcibly grabbed and planted with jatropha. Objectors have often faced brutal repercussions and legal battles. The report also questions the Indian government's designation of land as suitable for jatropha. Some 13.4 million hectares of land were earmarked for jatropha across the country, including 3 million hectares of forest land and 4 million hectares of 'waste land'. But the report finds that much of this so-called 'waste land' is not suitable for any form of cultivation, even though it often provides key shared community resources, such as village forests and commons, providing food, fuel and timber for many of the poorest rural communities. The forest lands are often inhabited by forest dwellers who depend on forest access to survive.