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| [PHOTO: UNifeed] |
Shimba Hills, Kenya: As the world, and the aviation industry, turns its attention
towards more sustainable fuel sources, the debate on how to produce biofuels in
ways that do not conflict with food security, takes centre stage at a workshop
Thursday (22 November) at the Rome Tre University.
The event, supported by Boeing, will discuss how to develop
aviation biofuels in a way that benefits poor farmers.
The production of biofuels could potentially create a new
and exciting market for poor, rural farmers in developing countries. There are
biofuel crops, like jatropha, that can grow in marginal areas which could
provide an income for farmers from otherwise unproductive land. And there are
also food crops, like cassava, that can be used for biofuel that could benefit
from broader markets.
For the aviation industry, biofuels have the potential to
reduce CO2 emissions and cut its fuel costs. But the UN's International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is participating in the workshop
counsels caution. According to IFAD's Chief Development Strategist Carlos Seré,
a lot more research needs to be done to ensure that biofuel production does not
compete with crop production.
Chief Development Strategist of IFAD, Carlos Seré, said, "Biofuels
largely are an alternative land use and thus it is going to be competing with
crop production for food security. This is a major concern the world has and
this is not completely out of the realm of reality. Because the first
generation biofuels – basically cereals, maize, corn from the US largely, and
oil crops in Europe have certainly affected the markets. And given what we have
just gone through with these price hikes etcetera, there is a lot of
nervousness around this and we share that concern. We think that we need to
understand a lot better what are linkages between the biofuels market and the
food market and the obviously the resources they are competing for."
As the only United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating
rural poverty, Seré said IFAD will represent the interests of smallholder
farmers.
"This is a very complex process that involves food
security, land use, land ownership, employment, investment. There's a lot of
stakeholders and in this type of complex decisions you need to have them all on
board. A particularly important part of the equation is having the farmers
themselves involved. They are the ones who are going to be particularly
affected by these changes." he added.
Speakers at the workshop "Sustainable Pro-poor
Development of Aviation Biofuels" include Corrado Clini, Minister for the
Environment, Land and Sea, Italy; Carlos Seré, IFAD Chief Strategist; Rinaldo
Petrignani, President of Boeing Italy; Antonio de Palmas, President, EU &
NATO, Boeing; and leaders from the Biomass Research Centre, Enalg, Solena and
ENI. -UNifeed