30 August 2010 | News | Food Sovereignty
Feeding Cars
Friends of the Earth warns that agrofuels demand increases land grabbing
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A new report published on Monday by environmentalist federation Friends of the Earth International shows that the demand of agrofuels in Northern countries is causing the amount of lands owned by foreign companies in African countries to increase, which directly affects the rights of local communities.
The report studied the situation in 11 African countries, and found that at least five million hectares of land are being acquired by foreign companies, especially Chinese and European, to produce biofuels.
In a press release issued today by the federation, Mariann Bassey, food and agriculture coordinator for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria said that the “expansion of agrofuels is transforming forests and natural vegetation into fuel crops, taking away food-growing farmland from communities, and creating conflicts with local people over land ownership. “
“We want real investment in agriculture that allows us to produce food and not fuel for foreign cars”, said Bassey.
The press release also makes reference to a leaked World Bank report on land grabbing which stated that the conflicts with local communities were common and were usually over land rights.
Friends of the Earth also warns that land grabbing could continue rising if the European Union is to meet its biofuel targets, which will have negative impacts on the poorest countries.
