Environmental issues, food security and increasing prices on energy are some of the global challenges we face today. In 2000, UN introduced the Millennium goals, where one of many important targets was to reduce poverty. Several approaches have been suggested to reach the goals. One among many suggestions to give small scale farmers a more sustainable livelihood can be jatropha,” the diesel tree”.  Zambian National Farmers Union (ZNFU) suggests to plant jatropha as hedges, fences and demarcation in the rural areas. Their main approach is planting with a purpose of fencing and to improve the local environment.
Afterwards, the plant will give a surplus f seeds for sale. Several oil companies push the farmers to establish fields of jatropha. Together with ZNFU, CFU, The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Lusaka, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) and some of the oil companies in Zambia, I tried to highlight the following questions:  
-Will the growing of jatropha reduce the costs and increase the income within the household?
-Will the growing of jatropha have any influence on the household’s food production- and security?
-Would engagement in jatropha production translate into better income than current activities?
-Is there a significant difference in livelihood between growers and non-growers of jatropha?
A sample of 115 small scale farmers was chosen from districts known for jatropha production. The number of jatropha growers is so far, very low. Snowball sampling was chosen as sampling method. From interviews with farmers, field officers, promoters and governmental employees, the objectives were answered. An activity calendar for jatropha was developed and compared with the activity calendars for the most common crops in Zambia. Cost benefit analysis were calculated for different methods of growing jatropha. Gross margin and rentability were compared with data’s for the most common crops and seemed to be very promising for jatropha. Higher wages for agricultural labour or lack of labour can be Achilles heels for jatropha since some operations are very time demanding. The operations which require most time are weeding, pruning, harvesting and peeling. In spite of this, jatropha will hardly be harmful to food production because the activity calendars show that most jatropha activities can be done in the farmer’s idle time. Even in terms of land, jatropha will not be cultivated at the expenses of food production because there is plenty of dormant land in Zambia. After planting, the crop starts to give a yield after 2 years. Unless the promoters supply the farmers with seeds and implements, this will be a hindrance for jatropha growing on a bigger scale. Several promoters have invited farmers to join out grower schemes. Even though many farmers have responded positively, and now have received seeds, the promoters will face many challenges. To keep up the motivation among the farmers so they don’t give up is one. To avoid side selling seeds is another one. Calculation of the profitability has to be done over a period of 10 years or more. In a short perspective (10 years), jatropha is less profitable than cotton, tobacco and castor beans. In a longer perspective, jatropha will be more profitable than any other cash crop. In spite of the investment costs and waiting period, future income from jatropha give a very high net present value.