Biofuels spark fears of land grabbing, ‘peak food’

REUTERS – Not so long ago, biofuels were being hailed as the answer to the world’s fossil fuel addiction. These days, the media is full of warnings about the potential harm of growing crops for fuel instead of food.

Britain’s Independent newspaper reports that African scientists and activists want a moratorium on new biofuels projects because they’re taking over millions of acres of the continent’s best farmland.


We need to protect food security, forests, water, land rights, farmers and indigenous peoples from the aggressive march of agrofuel developments,” reads the call for a moratorium issued by the African Biodiversity Network at a meeting in South Africa last week.

African governments have jumped on the biofuels bandwagon hoping for new exports, jobs and energy security, says the paper. “The reality is the forced removal of small farmers, rising food costs and scant benefits for local populations,” it argues.

Nigerian environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey describes private companies’ accumulation of large areas of agricultural land as “a flashback to colonial plantations”.

Reuters