An African Call for Moratorium on Biofuels

18 May 2008
Biofuels are touted as the solution to dwindling supplies of oil, but what about the cost to agriculture and the environment? Gathuru Mburu, Co-ordinator, African Biodiversity Network, writes.

The aggressive push for agrofuel developments in Africa (known to many as "biofuels") is a massive new threat to our farmers, food, forests, water resources and land rights. Our governments are apparently in the thrall of the multinational corporations leading this "green gold rush", and fail to see that this give-away of our land and food will only lead to more poverty and hunger.
2007 saw a series of disastrous impacts across the African continent, including rising food prices, large-scale land evictions and deforestation. Please see the African Biodiversity Network's report "Agrofuels in Africa: the impact on land, food and forests" on our website, www.africanbiodiversity.org
Sadly, this is just the beginning of a very big trend that is set to expand massively in 2008 and beyond.
At a recent meeting in Ethiopia, thirty NGOs from across Africa agreed on their urgent concern about the new push for Agrofuels on our continent. We therefore jointly launched a call for a Moratorium on Agrofuels in Africa.
Agrofuels are a false solution to climate change, and will only worsen the problems of climate change and food security already facing Africa.