Is the expansion of biofuels at odds with the food security of developing countries?

Jul 2007

The development of biofuel production and its use may have profound impacts on both food production and distribution in the world market and developing countries: changing patterns of food demand and supply; increasing energy supply and increased prices for major biofuel sources, such as corn, soybeans, sugar cane, sugar beets, will sooner or later have an effect on basic food prices. Food prices are one of the most important determinants of food access for the poor. The strengthening linkage between food and energy may increase food price variability, which will, in turn, affect basic food prices and food security in the short term rather than long term, since poor people have less flexibility in the short run.
The objective of this perspective is to shed some light on how biofuel development will affect agricultural prices and the food security system in developing countries, and how these countries can react, in terms of policy or strategic plan, if biofuels take over the energy world.
The line of thought in this perspective starts by making the case that the long-term increase in global agricultural production, has outpaced the growth in demand, and consequently agricultural prices have decreased dramatically.
This decrease in agricultural prices has directly affected income in rural areas, where poverty and hunger are still dominant. An increase in agricultural prices could provide an opportunity to re-energize agricultural development, and improve, rather than threaten, the fight against poverty and hunger.

By: D. De La Torre Ugarte, L. He (University of Tennessee)

 
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