The Global Exchange for Social Investment – GEXSI (www.gexsi.org) is an international development finance intermediary which operates worldwide with offices in London and Berlin. GEXSI’s mission is to support social entrepreneurs in low-income regions worldwide to move from philanthropic support to commercial investment. GEXSI focuses on businesses that have social, environmental and economic impact, and clear potential for scaling up or replication. Since 2005, GEXSI has build up a Jatropha expert network and has done extensive work in promoting Jatropha and supporting Jatropha entrepreneurs – e.g. the first Global Market Study on Jatropha.

Message from Workshop Chair
Jatropha has the potential to become one of the leading feedstocks for sustainable biofuel production in the future. The challenge remains to enhance the knowledge of actual plant-handling in order to achieve good results. Having conducted more than 160 interviews with Jatropha project developers worldwide (www.jatropha-platform.org), we realized the need for exchange of know-how among projects to bridge the knowledge gap and to establish consolidated cultivation methods and best practices.

The Workshop is dedicated to highlighting practical aspects of Jatropha Plantation Set-Up and Maintenance. Experienced Jatropha practitioners from Africa, Asia and South America will share their experiences and techniques with the participants. Ample time will also be dedicated to interactive discussions between the speakers and participants.

The Workshop will focus on the initial steps in the Jatropha value chain, i.e. selection and preparation of the land, preparation of the actual plants and techniques to establish and maintain strong and healthy plantations. These aspects greatly influence the economics of Jatropha business model and their successful implementation help build a technically-sound project.

Jatropha Practitioner Workshop is the OPTIONAL post-conference workshop on 22 October 2008. Please click here for more information.

Chairman’s Profile
Thilo Zelt is one of the authors of the Global Market Study on Jatropha which has been conducted by The Global Exchange for Social Investment (GEXSI) on behalf of the European Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) this year. Thilo Zelt has extensive experience in Jatropha business development and consulting for Jatropha projects. He has developed and manages a Jatropha project in Madagascar. Before joining GEXSI and the Jatropha community, Thilo Zelt was a management consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants where he worked extensively on environmental technologies, renewable energies and biofuels. 

JATROPHAWORLD 2008 is a showcase of all the latest trends and shifts occurring in the Jatropha value chain, bringing together on a single platform, the best expertise to discuss and analyze the present and future dynamics of Jatropha from a technological and socio-economic angle. To find more about JatrophaWorld in Hamburg from October 20 to 21, 2008, please visit http://www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/.