Biofuels should not be at the cost of food security

In 2007, a science journal, Scientific American, called jatropha "green gold in a shrub," and that it was a plant that "seems to offer all the benefits of biofuels without the pitfalls."

This was because the wonder tree seemed a boon for the very places with some of the highest rates of poverty and plenty of hot, dry lands: the global south, including Latin America, Africa and Asia.

It was then publicised that, among other things, the miracle tree could also stabilize and restore degraded soils.

This was followed by the frenzy of large scale jatropha farming in several countries, including China, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Malawi, and Brazil.

The major motivating factor was the myth that jatropha could thrive in the dry and degraded lands that are not suitable for food crop farming.

However, it has now been proved through scientific research that contrary to earlier expectations, the tree grows far more productively on higher quality land with more rainfall or irrigation.

In fact, experts say that when jatropha is grown in marginal conditions, farmers have inevitably ended up with marginal yields.

But if the tree is grown on fertile land, this could lead to large scale jatropha farming taking up a huge chunk of productive land thereby posing a threat to food security.

This has already happened in other countries, including India, where government foresters drained rice paddies in order to plant jatropha in the poor and mostly tribal state of Chhattisgarh.

On Mindanao, the second-largest province of the Philippine islands, protests erupted in late 2008, with indigenous leaders insisting that jatropha plantations had begun to displace needed crops of rice, corn, bananas, and root vegetables.

It is for this reason we wish to commend the government for taking a cautious approach to the development of Tanzania’s biofuel industry.

According to a research conducted in the country by two scholars from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), at least 4 million hectares of land have so far, been requested for biofuel production in the country – especially for jatropha, sugar cane and palm oil.

We are happy that the government has taken heed of the alarm raised over wholesale lease of land for the biofuel industry in that out of the requested area, only 640,000 ha have so far been allocated, with only 100,000 ha having been granted formal rights of occupancy.

Here we are talking about investors who are proposing biofuel projects involving initial investments of up to $1bn over the next 10 to 20 years, taking up mostly village land that is not permanently settled but is used for various economic activities in coastal areas like Bagamoyo, Rufiji, Kilwa and Kisarawe districts.

We therefore, fully support the government decision to review the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks to identify existing gaps so that it can formulate a new policy and legislation that will govern sustainable development of liquid biofuel industry in the country.

We understand that the country is currently scouting for consultants to undertake this daunting but important task. It should be done carefully because much as we need alternative energy, this cannot be at the risk of food security.