EU biofuel drive ignites African land grab

(AP via Yahoo! Finance) BRUSSELS -- The European Union's drive to invest in biofuels is contributing to a "land grab" in Africa by governments, companies and investment firms, a report by an environmental group said Monday.

The bloc's target of ensuring that 10 percent of its transport fuel come from renewable sources in the next decade is at the heart of the drive to turn tracts of African land into plantations for production of crops for such fuels, said the report by the Friends of the Earth, a non-governmental organization.

EU spokesman Robert Waite said biofuel crops were not the sole target of their energy initiative. Wind and solar energy are being researched as well, he said.

Wait suggested the impact on Africa was smaller than the report indicated.

The 36-page report echoes other similar warnings on the impact the extraction of oils from food and fuel crops -- such as sugarcane, corn, cassava and soy beans -- can have on communities involved. Many of these crops serve a dual role as food and fuel, creating a land access issue between farming communities and biofuel companies.

In 2008, the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization said biofuel production causes such environmental and other problems that "the question is whether there are sufficient ethical justifications" to grow such crops.

"Local communities are facing increasing hunger and food insecurity just so Europe can fuel its cars," said Adrian Bebb, food and agriculture campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe. "The EU must urgently scrap its biofuel policy."

The report, which was partly funded by the EU, assessed the impact that agrofuel production is having on 11 African countries.

"Pressure on farmland has led to forests being cleared to make way for agrofuel plantations, destroying valuable natural resources and increasing greenhouse gas emissions," it said.

The report details how local communities have their land taken away and see forests and natural vegetation being cleared to make room for biofuels that compete with food crops.

Waite said the EU is increasingly focusing on biofuels from leftover parts of crops, such as stems and leaves.