Agrofuels/Biofuels Threaten Food Supply
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Biofuels production is making it impossible for humanity to grow enough food. This was the message delivered to Canadians by a panel of farm leaders from the global South – that Biofuels are simply not feasible.
The speakers, who were in Canada to shine a spotlight on the biofuels craze sweeping the globe, delivered this message to communities across the country last week. In a series of public forums organized by USC and its Canadian partners, the message was clear: our global agriculture is already stretched to the limit and not producing enough food, and biofuels (also known as agrofuels) is making hunger worse.
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Darrin Qualman of the National Farmers Union says that, with continuing shortfalls of food, we can’t hope to grow crops for fuel. |
Food Deficit
“There’s a misconception that the world has a surplus of food – that we have food to burn,” says Darrin Qualman of the National Farmers Union (Canada). “But the truth is, in seven of the last eight years, humans have consumed more food than farmers have produced.”
In that short time, the international supply of food has dropped from 115 days worth of food down to just 54 days worth. If we continue this trend for even one more year, says Qualman, food prices will skyrocket and incidents of food riots and rationing will become commonplace.
It’s irresponsible and unrealistic to call for increased agricultural production from a system that is already unable to produce enough food for people, never mind cars. According to the experts, we need to concentrate on fixing what’s broken rather than adding more stresses to an already overburdened system. It’s critical that we halt the drop in food stocks and begin to reverse the hunger trend, Qualman said.
Craze on Murky Footing
Governments across the globe, however, have more than just food security to deal with, and they’re turning to agrofuels in the hopes of finding a miracle cure.
In the global North, governments view agrofuels as a solution to climate change. Agrofuels are portrayed as a techno-fix for climate change that will let us continue our car-based lifestyle. The public is buying into this myth, and northern governments are continuing to promote agrofuels as a result.
Agrofuels vs. AgrobiodiversityAgrofuels production is contributing to the loss of agricultural biodiversity – humanity’s heritage and a resource that is critical for protecting us from climate change. Javiera Rulli, from Base Investigationes Sociale (Paraguay), provided examples from Paraguay showing how transnational corporations are encouraging farmers to stop growing food and start growing agrofuel crops. That includes switching from growing multiple varieties of different crop types to focusing on a single crop – a practice known as monocropping. As this happens, the number of peasant farmers growing food – 30% of the world’s population – is falling. We rely on those farmers not only for 50% of the worlds food supply, but also as the defenders of agricultural biodiversity. So not only will global food supplies continue to dwindle, but global biodiversity will also disappear, weakening our ability to adapt to climate change. As climates change, we’ll need to find varieties that are resilient to warmer weather and extreme climate events if we’re to continue growing food and keep hunger at bay, in Canada and overseas. Most of those diverse plant varieties are in the global South, but the small scale farmers who protect them are being pushed out of food production, inhibiting their ability to safeguard genetic diversity. These farmers must be recognized and supported as valuable foot-soldiers in the battle against climate chaos. |
In the global South, governments are calling agrofuels a salvation for small-scale farmers who, for decades, have been unable to profit from the food they produce. Alberto Gomez of the National Union of Regional Peasant Organizations (Mexico) says peasant farmers are being promised bigger profits from agrofuel crops.
The speakers called on governments to step back and look at the bigger picture. The global food supply is already at risk, and the impact is simply going to get worse as governments commit to agrofuel quotas. They questioned whether massive investments in agrofuel plantations would reduce climate change or address the farm crisis, and noted fears that this approach might instead induce large-scale human rights violations.
“Already agrofuel crops are replacing a large percentage of food production,” says Gomez. There are 1.5B hectares of arable land in the world, and 10% of that – 120 million hectares – is already being used to grow agrofuels. “100 million tons of maize were grown last year for agrofuels instead of food,” says Gomez.
Food Crisis Solutions
The speakers were clear that part of the solution to the food crisis should involve increased government support for family farms. “Family and peasant farms make up 30% of the world’s population and are responsible for 50% of the world’s food supplies,” says Gomez. Small-scale agriculture is indispensible for feeding the world’s people.
“Rather than pushing small farmers away from food production, we need to support them,” says Peter Rosset of the Center for the Study of Rural Change in Mexico. There’s an urgent need to shift control over agriculture from industrial farms, run by transnational corporations, into the hands of small scale farmers – who farm in a way that is less dependent on fossil fuels, says Rosset. This model of agriculture can help not only with rebuilding food stocks, but also with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making a real impact on climate change.
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Javiera Rulli, Peter Rossett, and Alberto Gomez at the Ottawa Forum |
But the second part of the solution must be to stop diverting agricultural land to the production of agrofuels.
The tour brought the speakers to Charlottetown, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. In all, more than 1,500 people heard their message. And for those who were unable to attend, Canada’s Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) aired the Ottawa forum for the rest of the country to see. That video is now available through www.cpac.ca in the video-on-demand section.
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