Bioenergy and Food Security

Food, farmers and fuel: balancing global grain and energy policies with sustainable land use

The public debate on agrofuels changed dramatically over the past year. What started out as an intriguing proposal on an apparently innovative alternative fuel source quickly turned into an important and contentious topic of international ...

Nov 2008
Sugarcane ethanol - Contributions to climate change mitigation and the environment

The aim of this publication is to set the stage for the discussion about both challenges and concerns of sugarcane ethanol by providing the scientific context, the basic concepts and the approach for understanding the ...

Nov 2008
Water implications of biofuel crops: understanding tradeoff¬s and identifying options

Biofuels are being touted as a solution to rising fuel prices, growing energy demands, and the need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Governments have good reasons for promoting biofuels. Yet, a headlong rush into ...

Nov 2008
Biofuels and the underlying causes of high food prices

There are several explanations to the sharp price increase. One of the first rules of economics is that prices are determined by supply and demand, but the classical ideal market assumption and the fall of ...

Oct 2008
Sustainable bioenergy development in UEMOA Member Countries

This report, led by the UN Foundation, in partnership with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, the Energy and Security Group and the Global Bioenergy Partnership, identifies opportunities, assesses constraints, identifies trade-offs, and ...

Oct 2008
Statement by the director-general on the occasion of the launch of SOFA 2008

This document contains the statement made by the director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Jacques Diouf, on the occasion of the launch of SOFA 2008.

Oct 2008
The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 - Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 explores the implications of the recent rapid growth in production of biofuels based on agricultural commodities. The boom in liquid biofuels has been largely driven by policies in ...

Oct 2008
U.S. corn growers: producing food & fuel

Accelerated growth in corn use for ethanol has led critics to question corn growers’ ability to satisfy demand for both renewable fuels and traditional markets such as livestock and poultry feed, food processing and exports.Skeptics ...

Oct 2008
Seized! The 2008 land grab for food and financial security

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of ...

Oct 2008
The state of food and agriculture in Asia and the Pacific region

The growing importance of biofuels is a major challenge and an opportunity for the sector. Biofuels production has grown from 1 million hectares seven years ago to 25 million hectares today. If petroleum prices remain ...

Oct 2008
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