Title: “Promoting local agriculture and production of biofuels”

Location:Santiago – Province of Veraguas – Panama

Duration: October 19^th 2009 – October 18^th 2012

Partner: Agro2 – Panama  

 

The project aims at improvement of local agriculture, local production and use of biofuels (mainly bio-ethanol) and linking farmers to markets.  The agricultural sector in Panama is underdeveloped since most development is concentrated around Panama city and the Panama Canal. Farmers often own large pieces of land but are limited in their opportunities for income generation. Main reasons are that they have limited access to markets, market prices for agricultural products are low and unstable and farmers agricultural expertise is lacking.  

 

The project will improve local agriculture and integrate the production of feedstock for biofuel in current agricultural practice. Main focus will be on cassava residues. These will be processed into low grade ethanol in small scale units operated and maintained by the local population. Part of the ethanol will be used in adapted cooking stoves able to burn low grade ethanol. The remainder will be sold to a central plant where ethanol is upgraded for use as biofuel on a national level. Besides cassava, other crops and agricultural residues will be evaluated as feedstock for biofuels (amongst others sugar cane, oil palm). Because the area is moderately dry the agricultural management of these crops is key. An experiment with partly irrigated drought tolerant oil palm varieties from ASD Costa Rica is ongoing. A crop diversification strategy is used.

  

This strategy aims at intercropping and inclusion of multipurpose tree crops and food crops which support local biodiversity and decrease risks for farmers.  

 

Farmers will be organized and trained in new agricultural practices as well as local production and use of biofuels. The biofuel project is embedded in a larger project that also focuses on land- and infrastructural development in the Santiago region.