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UN FAO releases new tool to assist governments planning biofuels policy; tests underway in Peru, Thailand and Tanzania

February 11, 2008

The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a decision-support tool to assist countries in planning their entry into biofuels production. The analytical framework allows government to assess biomass potential; biomass production costs; the economic bioenergy potential; macro-economic consequences; national and household-level impact and consequences on food security. The tool will be tested in Peru, Thailand and Tanzania – before it is is made available to the international community at large.

Regan Suzuki of the FAO recently said that while biofuels are better for the environment and promote energy security, the effect of competition for land, and the potential for water shortages were areas for concern.

She said that “Biofuels have become a flash point through which a wide range of social and environmental issues are currently being played out in the media,” and said that countries such as India have rolled out biofuels plans without considering the potential effect on deforestation and other negative environmental effects.

The UN FAO released a report saying that 40 nations face critical food shortages, for reasons including climate change, higher meat consumption in developing countries, crop failure, war, and diversion of food crops for biofuels.

The FAO report said that its food price index rose 40 percent in 2007 compared with 9 percent in 2006, and food riots have occurred in Mexico, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Senegal.

Top FAO official Jeff Tschirley, recently said “FAO strongly feels that food security and environmental considerations must be fully addressed before making investments or policy decisions, and we are actively working to ensure this happens. However, a moratorium that ignores the potential of biofuels to support rural development and assist the economies of developing countries would not, in our view, be a constructive approach to this topic.”

He said that the description of biofuels as a “crime against humanity” by Dr. Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur on The Right to Food, was regrettable.

In a recent report addressing the food vs. fuel debate, Informa Economics released a 20-year study exonerating ethanol for having a serous impact on food price rises.

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    Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Policy, Research 

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    One Response to “UN FAO releases new tool to assist governments planning biofuels policy; tests underway in Peru, Thailand and Tanzania”

    1. Resource Management in Asia-Pacific News · Resource Management in Asia-Pacific on March 16th, 2008 6:12 pm

      [...] UN FAO releases new tool to assist governments planning biofuels policy; tests underway in Peru, Thailand and Tanzania The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a decision-support tool to assist countries in planning their entry into biofuels production. The analytical framework allows government to assess biomass potential; biomass production costs; the economic bioenergy potential; macro-economic consequences; national and household-level impact and consequences on food security. The tool will be tested in Peru, Thailand and Tanzania – before it is is made available to the international community at large. [...]

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