The report called “Biofuel injustice: The European responsibility to counter climate change without increasing land grabbing or worsening food insecurity in Africa” was written by EuropAfrica and human rights organization FIAN International. The report was issued as the European Union is reviewing its 2012 agrofuels policy, taking into account its serious environmental and social impacts.

The EuropAfrica platform is a joint campaign of African peasant groups and European non governmental organizations created around the principle of food sovereignty. Its coordinator, Nora McKeon believes that “importing industrial agrofuels as part of Europe’s renewable energy is worsening land grabbing in Africa and therefore it violates the right to food”.

McKeon believes the European leaders should bear in mind that their agriculture and energy policies have global impacts and that they often have negative effects on the most vulnerable populations of the poorer countries. Decision-makers cannot ignore the evidence: It is time to completely rethink the agrofuels policy”.

The study shows that two thirds of the lands considered as land grabbing (nearly 18 million hectares) have been acquired to produce agrofuels. Also, the main companies involved in this process are European. The EU is strongly dependent on the import of agrofuels or raw materials so this encourages investment of European companies on lands or industrial agriculture projects in Africa and Latin America.
Already in 2008, the EU imported almost 40 per cent of agrofuels or raw materials to produce them.

Roman Herre, of FIAN Belgium criticized the European policy on agrofuels since it is increasingly industry and export-oriented in the agriculture of countries that lack food security.

“The EU policy does not provide any measure to prevent land grabbing in countries that suffer hunger, which should not be considered as producers of agrofuels destined for the EU”, said Herre.

This is a violation of the EU commitments on Human Rights by failing to set clear limits to agriculture investments. The analysis shows that the EU violates its own principle of Policy Coherence for Development.
Marius Dia, of the National Rural Cooperation Council of Senegal (one of the countries analyzed in the report) said: “We want to grow food for the African people, not to feed cars in Europe. The shift towards crops for agrofuels in Senegal has been a failure. Productivity has plummeted since Jatropha began to be cultivated and many farmers and peasants felt they have been swindled”, said the Senegalese leader who urged the EU to change its renewable energy policies based on agrofuels and to instead ensure the enforcement of the right to food.

The report is avialable on: www.fian.org

Photo: vidasana.org