Mapping food and bioenergy in Africa

May 2010

Bioenergy interest has gained much attention in the last years due to the positive issues that it can bring specially for developing countries but at the same time because of the many concerns on risks and trade-offs that could generate. FARA considers that the production of bioenergy crops will need to take into account
a) a broader understanding of the extent of the issues and concerns surrounding food to bioenergy conversion and
b) the accompanying policy/institutional dimensions as input to the development of an appropriate and truly responsive food and bioenergy programs in developing economies.
This report focuses on assessing Africa’s ability to fulfil the following objectives:
a. Generate regional evidence on the frequency of the conversion of cash food crops to biofuels.
b. Determine perceived issues and concerns of this conversion by sector (regional, national, household).
c. Establish early indication of the impact (trends, patterns) to anticipate future scenarios.
d. Undertake policy and institutional mapping as well as analysis to better understand the policy and institutional dimensions of the food and bioenergy interphase.
According to the development of, and interest in bioenergy production in Africa, this report focuses on a selection of countries in order to cover different regions from Africa:
• West Africa: Senegal and Mali
• East Africa: Kenya and Tanzania
• Southern Africa: Mozambique and Zambia

By: R. A. Diaz-Chavez (Imperial College)

 
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