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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 30 2010 - 09:53:50 EDT
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/27/c_13466359.htm
Report says EU biofuel demand fuelling land grab in Africa
NAIROBI, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) --The demand for biofuel in the European
Union is fuelling land grabbing in Africa, reducing the land available
to grow crops in a continent that already faces food deficit
situation, a new report has said.
The EU is targeting to use at least 10 percent biofuel by 2020 for its
transport and companies are seizing land in Africa to produce biofuel
to feed into this demand.
The report entitled "Africa: Up for Grabs" was released by an
environmental group, Friends of the Earth.
"Growing European and international demand for biofuels as a transport
fuel is creating market demand for biofuels. While African politicians
may promise that biofuels will bring locally sourced energy supplies
to their countries, the reality is that most of the foreign companies
are developing biofuels to sell on the international market," said the
report released on Friday.
It said studies suggest that a third of the land sold or acquired in
Africa is intended for fuel crops, some 5 million hectares.
The report profiles land-grab cases that have happened in 11 African
countries, most of which is being used or intended to be used to grow
biofuel crops like Jatropha and palm oil.
The report said while some of this land is sold outright to private
companies, state companies or investment funds, most is leased and
some is obtained through contracting with the farmers to grow specific
crops, known as "out growing".
The report was done based on evidence from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania,
Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Benin
and Nigeria, among others.
It said in Ethiopia for example, land inside an elephant sanctuary was
cleared to make way for biofuels.
"Just as African countries have seen fossil fuels and other natural
resources exploited for the benefit of richer countries, there is a
risk that biofuels, and with them, Africa's agricultural land and
natural resources, will be exported abroad with minimal benefit for
local communities and national economies. "
It said a number of, often small, EU companies are involved, sometimes
with support or involvement from their national government.
Many are keen to vaunt the social and environmental benefits of their
business, offering employment and the promise of development to rural
areas.
"Many of the host countries have encouraged this investment, keen to
develop a potentially lucrative export crop," it said.
A similar report released last year by the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that in Ethiopia, Ghana,
Madagascar, Mali and Sudan, 2.4 million hectares of land had been
transferred in land deals since 2004.
A separate study by the International Food Policy Research Institute
estimated that 20 million hectares of land have been sold since 2006
in land deals, with 9 million hectares acquired in Africa.
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