Statement on Industrial Agrofuels Made by WHY at ECOSOC Meetings:

On Thursday July 3rd, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations held a panel discussion entitled “Bioenergy, sustainable livelihoods and rural poor.” While many of the concerns we share regarding industrialized biofuel, or agrofuel, production were mentioned during the discussions, the overall sense of the meeting indicated that many panelists did not understand the severity of the ongoing food crisis and the growing role of agrofuels in worsening the crisis. Below is a civil society statement made at the meeting by Tejas Kadia of WHY in strong opposition to industrial-scale agrofuels:

“It is important to make a distinction between large, industrial-scale production of agrofuels (an extractive model) versus fuel grown and harvested sustainably on a small scale for the benefit of local communities. Efforts must be made by governments to ensure that food production and the right to food are top priorities, and these should not be sacrificed for fuel production. According to the 2008 World Development Report, it takes more than 240 kilograms of corn — enough to feed one person for a year — to produce 100 liters of ethanol, just enough to fill one tank of an SUV. Large industrial scale production of food crops for fuel is neither sustainable nor will it be a silver bullet for energy security. As the world is witnessing steep increases in the price of food, social movements are calling for a food sovereignty model, in which communities and regions assert their rights to control their own food policies, and to guarantee the right to food through a just and sustainable food system. We believe that food sovereignty is the best framework for evaluating the use of biomass to create energy.”

For more on the problems of industrial agrofuels, see Fueling Disaster: A Community Food Security Perspective on Agrofuels.