Tanzania urgently needs to put in place a policy framework to guide biofuel crops production and stave off the danger of serious food shortages in communities around biofuel plantations, a new study has warned. “The government of is on the forefront encouraging the production of biofuels. However, there is no policy and regulatory framework to guide investment decisions on such production in the country,” says ActionAid, an international non-governmental agency advocating for poverty reduction.  ActionAid presented its report to participants of a one-day workshop held on 16 October as Tanzania observed the World Food Day. Participants of the workshop included farmers drawn from six districts -- Rufiji, Kisarawe, Bagamoyo, Lindi, Kilwa and Arusha -- where foreign investors have opened up biofuel plantations. According to the study, land conflicts, food shortages and social upheavals were some of critical issues that the villagers had to grapple with in a vacuum of a specific policy to guide the biofuel industry.
http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/-/4897-disputes-lurk-behind-biofuel-projects--study