Food vs fuel is a huge dilemma in Africa due to the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuel production at the detriment of food supply for local communities. The food vs fuel debate is a global debate with huge disagreements as to how significant the issue is, what is causing it and what can or should be done about it. (Pictured: An emphasis on biofuel production at the expense of staple food crops could be disastrous.)
In Africa, there is a huge increase in biofuel production especially the large plantations of Jatropha, an oil seed tree. In countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique, virgin land and indigenous trees have been removed to plant Jatropha for biofuel.
Bio fuel crops are liquid fuels made from agricultural commodities such as maize, oil palm, soya bean, sugarcane, sugar beet, rape seed, canola, jatropha, rice, sorghum and wheat which is then blended with gasoline or diesel, mainly to power automobiles (Holt-Gemenez and Kenfield in Syamsul, 2009).
In recent years, in a bid to curb the ever rising price of fossil fuels, Zimbabwe engaged in the promotion of jatropha production for biodiesel processing. Fuel-generating crops like jatropha could generate more revenue for the country if done on a large scale. But what are the implications of bio fuels on food security among small scale farmers?
Household food security refers to access by all members of a household at all times to adequate, safe and nutritious food supplies to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active healthy life style (Kalibwani, 2005). Essential elements of food security are availability and ability to access the food.
Food security can be attained through food self sufficiency, meaning that the household can meet the aggregate food needs of its members primarily from own domestic production.
Diverting land utilized for food crops to jatropha can have negative repercussions for poorer households. Given that the small scale farmers in Zimbabwe have limited areas of arable land, it would not be wise for the farmers to commit these little pieces of land to Jatropha production. This has a potential to impact negatively on food security status.
One might argue that if they grow jatropha they would earn income from seed sales which they could then use to purchase necessary household food supplies, but seed prices of Jatropha have been very low at $0.10/ Kg, yet the harvesting of the seed is very laborious as there is currently no mechanized technology to harvest the seeds. The pricing thus has an effect on the potential income that can be generated.
Environment Africa promotes the integration of Jatropha production into local existing food production initiatives, encouraging the planting of jatropha as a ‘live’ fence around gardens, small fields and homesteads for protection and the use of the seed for the manufacture of value added products such as soap, lighting and organic fertilizers.
Countries in Africa should be encouraged to look very carefully at the potential of biofuel crops against food crops such as maize, soya beans and groundnuts among others as these can conflict with the livelihoods of rural communities who are trying to survive on a day to day basis.
A country may end up losing the ability to feed itself and be forced to rely heavily on imports, which in the past few years, have proved to be mainly that of genetically modified organisms which can negatively impact on long term local production. Reduction in the amount of food crop production has the potential to increase product prices and reduce the quality of health in children.
One UN reporter alleged that turning food crops such as corn into fuel is a "crime against humanity", with respect to the right to food (Ziegler, 2007).
Let’s encourage those that develop biofuels in Africa to do it in a manner that takes into consideration the lives of the people of Africa, especially the rural communities.
The question still remains, do we promote food production for the people, or biofuels for large multinationals, or is there a way to integrate the food and fuel issue?
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