Research and development efforts in the biofuels industry in Mozambique are relatively limited. Sweden is supporting research in the wide-scale production of biodiesel through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Mozambican authorities in May 2006.

Technoserve is collaborating with the Institute of Agricultural Research of Mozambique and the International Center for Research of Agro-Forestry to create a Jatropha research and monitoring unit. The project aims to define provenance selection, design management practices (including pest and disease management), and specify optimal post-harvest and processing techniques.

The UK-based Climate Change Corporation (C3) is working with the government of Buzi district in the central Mozambican province of Sofala on a project to produce biodiesel from Jatropha. C3 intends to supply inputs and has signed an agreement with the Buzi government establishing the principles to be followed by any farmer who wishes to take part.

The government has also been encouraging peasants to grow Jatropha as a cash crop. Farmers who agree to plant at least one hectare of land with Jatropha may join the program. As a demonstration, the project has planted 1,500 saplings in various parts of the district. Still, the necessary supporting infrastructure is lacking as evidenced by the extreme market segmentation in the case of Jatropha seeds: while some farmers get above-market prices in some areas (where planting is still on the upswing), there are also press reports of other farmers abandoning their Jatropha plantations for lack of a market for their product. Thus, our promise to support these farmers with inputs and technical advice (in concert with government agricultural workers) and to purchase their entire production has been welcomed.