The Global Consultation on Cassava as a Potential Bioenergy Crop is supported by the Governments of Italy and Finland, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Foundation and Novozymes.

Its objective is to guide future research that IFAD and its partners in Programme for the Development of Alternative Biofuel Crops may finance to develop appropriate technologies to intensify bio-fuel feedstock production, study the economics of rural energy provision and assess its impact on poverty. The ultimate goal of the research is to mainstream a pro-poor bio-fuel component in IFAD’s lending programme.

The idea is to improve the productivity of many alternative crops on which research has not been conducted along the whole chain from production to post harvest and marketing in a coordinated way to develop a market ready product with proven packages of technology that can be introduced to smallholders in the shortest possible time and with lowest possible risks. The crops selected are those that can be grown in environments in which intensive food production is difficult and, by and large, not economically viable. They, inter alia, include Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata (for bio-diesel production), or multiple use crops such as sweet sorghum and cassava (for bio-ethanol production).   

In order to identify issues and develop a suitable research agenda, IFAD, along with other sister UN agencies and other partners, has organized a series of global consultations on the most promising alternative bio-fuel crops. The first consultation on sweet sorghum was held in November 2007 and this was followed by a consultation on jatropha, which was held in 2008. This consultation, on cassava, is expected to:

• identify the risks and rewards associated with development of cassava as a bio-fuel/bio-energy crop without compromising food security
• identify promising high sugar varieties that can be competitive with other crops such as sugar cane and tropical sugar beet and develop a suitable research programme for them, from production to marketing
• identify promising varieties that can be used as a filler feedstock in processing, when other feedstocks are not available to fully utilize processing plant capacity, and  recommend measures to expedite research on improving feedstock productivity,  improve agronomy and address other issues from production to processing to develop an efficient bio-ethanol chain
• suggest measures to improve small scale cassava processing for local bio-energy provision
• provide a platform for promoting sustainable cassava production, including aspects such as marketing and policy issues; and
• facilitate responsible public-private partnerships that would benefit the poor.