The document discusses biofuels and food security. It notes that while biofuel production is not the main cause of food insecurity, it can either exacerbate or help address the problem depending on how supply chains are designed and integrated into local socioeconomic and environmental contexts. Large-scale biofuel production risks negative land use and agricultural impacts, but these can be avoided by using degraded lands and intensifying sustainable agricultural practices to improve productivity. For biofuels to help rather than hurt food security, integrated agricultural development is needed along with improved land use planning, impact assessments, and stronger institutions in developing countries.

1. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Copernicus Institute of
Sustainable Development
Environmental security
Workshop on Biofuels and Food security
Interactions
19 November, IFPRI, Washington D.C.
Dr. Floor van der Hilst
Energy & Resources

2. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Bioenergy and environmental
security
• As Biofuel production is not the main cause, it will
neither be the key solution for food security.
• However, depending on implementation it can
either be part of the problem or part of the
solution.
• If biofuel production is part of the solution
depends on:
• Design of the biomass supply chain
• Biophysical and socio-economic context of the
region of supply
• Integration of the supply chain in this context
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3. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Part of the problem?
• Large scale deployment of biomass for energy
could have adverse affects on:
• Carbon stocks (GHG emissions)
• Water (quality and quantity)
• Soils (e.g erosion, SOC)
• Biodiversity
• Rural development
• Food security
• Etc
• Many of these impacts are related to (indirect)
land use change.
• Expansion of agricultural land over native vegetation will
have negative environmental effects
• Expansion of energy crops over agricultural land  could
result in local food insecurity and displacement effects 
ILUC
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4. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Part of the problem?
• Large bioenergy potentials in developing
countries
 Unsustainable agricultural practices
• Low agricultural productivity due to lack of:
• Land rights
• Access to capital
• Access to markets (fertilizer / surplus production)
• Pushing the agricultural frontier
• Access to fertile land
• Income (selling wood products / selling land)
 Weak institutional framework
• By pushing bioenergy uncontrolled in this
equation it will contribute to the problem!
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5. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Or part of the solution?
• No competition for land and other resources
 Use of degraded land:
• Use low maintenance perennial crops to restore soil
quality
 Land availability depends on developments in
other LU functions
• need for spatio-temporal assessment
 Intensification of agricultural sector by
• Access to markets
• Diversifying markets
• Access to fertilizers, seeds, machinery, knowledge
• Alternative Income
• Turn the spiral upward
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6. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Key issues
• Agriculture including food, feed, fibre and fuel in needs
to be developed in an integrated way.
• Excluding commodities or regions from sustainability
criteria will result in displacement effects.
• Improving agricultural productivity and sound land use
planning is key for environmental and food security.
• In order to assess land availability, ex-ante impact
assessment & monitoring more and better (spatial)
data is required.
• Deploying bioenergy potentials in developing countries
with weak institutions, will bring additional
responsibilities to the entrepreneurs deploying these
potentials and the demand side using the biomass.
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