Opportunities and challenges of biofuel production for food security and the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Apr 2008

As an agency dedicated to the generation, analysis and dissemination of knowledge and in response to the Kyoto Protocol, the Johannesburg Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), FAO has recently focused its policies and technical assistance on the sustainable promotion of biofuel production. Such policies encompass agronomy, land use, gender, technology, industry and environment.
The FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean has begun to coordinate activities with the countries of the Region to guide their bioenergy policies, through clear understanding of the food security and environmental implications and the scope of such policies.
The production of liquid biofuels can also help small farmers produce their own energy for their agricultural machinery and generate their own electricity, especially those in isolated areas. Small farmers could also benefit from better prices for their produce if they were properly incorporated into the agrofuel production chain.
The level of positive or negative impact of bioenergy on food security and the environment will depend on the scale and speed of change; on the type of production system applied; on the structure of commodity and energy markets; and on policy choices in agriculture, energy, environment and trade. The rapid technological change that is taking place in the bioenergy sector makes it difficult to forecast the impact on food security and the environment.
This paper outlines some of the important aspects of the discourse on the promotion of such policies, in areas of territorial development, regulation, technology and contractual relationships. It focuses mainly on liquid biofuels, as this is the segment of the bioenergy sector that has the largest and most rapid growth. There are also direct implications for food security as most of the associated crops can also be used as food.

By: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

 
download this document:   69 kb
home