Eleven African nations agree on cooperation in biofuels development and education

January 1, 2008

Eleven African nations agreed at an FAO meeting in Rome to improve cooperation aimed at ending rural poverty. The agreement targeted the exchange of scientific information and the establishment of rural training relating to biofuels and climate change. have agreed to join forces to meet the challenge of education for rural people. Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania adopted a series of recommendations for African governments, international agencies and higher learning institutions.

African countries are increasingly attempting to coordinate biofuels policy. Recently, in Burkina Faso, officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) completed three days of meetings that coordinated biofuels policy prior to the commencement of the 13th UN Conference on Climate Change which will be held in Bali next week.

African ministers have pushed for the inclusion of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) credit for nations that institute sustainable forest management practices. The credit would produce earnings of up to $119 per rural household.

African analysts estimate that conserving biodiversity and carbon through forest management has to take into account “degradation” (removing valuable timber without proper post-logging care) as well as outright deforestation, for the policy to have success in Africa.

Sun Biofuels acquiring large tracts of land in Tanzania for jatropha

In Tanzania, Sun Biofuels is acquiring 17,000 acres for jatropha cultivation and will expand capacity to 85,000 acres in the long-term. The company said it will pay workers $1095 per year for farming ...

Common Fund for Commodities to invest in sisal-to-biofuel project in Tanzania

In Tanzania, the Common Fund for Commodities said that it will invest $100 million over five years to develop added-value strategies for African farmers, including a project in the eastern province of...

Swaziland turns to emergency biofuels development to avoid power blackouts as South African supply shutoff looms

Swaziland and other Southern African nations are turning to the emergency development of power from biofuels to avoid being plunged into darkness, after South African energy supplier Eskom withdrew su...

German war erupts between Economic Development and Agriculture ministries over biofuels support

In Germany, our European correspondent reports that the Agricultural and Economic Cooperation and Development ministries are at war over biofuels. The state secretary for Agriculture, while conceding ...

African biofuels project recap

All Africa has published an excellent summary of the state of African biofuel development, citing African ethanol production at 160 million gallons in 2007, adding coverage of Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiop...

Sudan government expected to pass biofuels bill, fund Khartoum sugar ethanol plant in 2008

In Sudan, the government expects to adopt an alternative energy bill before August. To brief legislators, a parliamentary committee on industry visited the Kenana sugar facility in Khartoum. Kenan, Gi...

Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under International, Policy