Transcript Identifying Pathways for Provision of Bio

Identifying Pathways for Provision
of Bio-Energy in SSA: Policy
Issues
Charles B.L. Jumbe, PhD (Econ)
Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD)
Bunda College of Agriculture (University of Malawi)
in partnership with
WIP-Germany & FANRPAN
funded by the EU
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5 September 2008
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Outline
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Background
The COMPETE Project
The role of FANRPAN
Why do we need policies
Scope of Work on Policies
The approach
Key findings
The future
Way forward for FANRPAN
Take home messages
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
 Fossil fuels continue to be the pivot of economic and
social development of all countries around the world
 However, on-going debate is now centred especially
around three main facets
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Increasing prices currently reaching US$130 per barrel
Ensuring energy security - reducing dependence on imported
liquid fuels from politically fragile states
Increased environmental concerns (GHG emission) and air
pollution due to the burning of fossil fuels.
 Therefore, biofuels are considered as an alternative to
fossil fuels
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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The COMPETE Project
 The Competence Platform on Energy Crop &Agroforestry
Systems for Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems – Africa
 A 3-year project (2006-2009) funded to the tune of €1.5
mn by the EU under the 6th Framework Programme,
Priority A.2.3: Managing Arid and Semi-arid Ecosystems
 Objectives
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to establish a platform for policy dialogue & capacity building
to identify pathways for the sustainable provision of bioenergy
to enhance the exchange of knowledge on biofuels
development
 Implementation
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Through 7 WPs involving 41 institutions incl. FANRPAN
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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The role of FANRPAN
 To produce outputs for the WP 6-Policy
Development whose objectives are:
To develop & evaluate policy initiatives for
bioenergy development in Africa
 To develop a roadmap for policy research
 To provide policy recommendations on how to
harness the potential of biofuels without damaging
livelihoods and the ecosystem
 To share information from the policy work through
seminars and workshops
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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Why do we need policies?
 Global production of biofuels doubled over the
5 five years and is likely to double again in the
next four years.
 FAO (2007) predicts that demand for biofuels to
grow by 170% in the next three years and to
contribute 25% of the world energy needs in the
next 15 to 20 years.
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Sources of Growth
 Brazil has set targets that all diesel contain 2% biodiesel
by 2008 & 5% by 2013
 The EU target of 5.75% biofuels share in all transport fuel
by 2010 means 18.6 mn. tons of oil equivalent of biofuels
 Japan will need 6 bn. litres of ethanol every year to
meet the blend ratio of only 3% biofuels.
 China will need 22.7 mn. metric tonnes of biofuels to
blend 10% biofuel into all Chinese cars by 2020.
 Indonesia to increase its palm oil production from 64,000
sq km to 260,000 sq km by 2025.
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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Sources of Growth
► The United States will use 28.4 billion litres of biofuels for
transportation by 2012.
► Across the US, 20% of the whole maize crop went to
ethanol in 2006 to meet only 2% of automobile fuel use.
► An extra 80 mn. acres (36 mn ha) of land will be required
if maize ethanol alone will be used to meet the US target.
 Eliminating gasoline use entirely in USA will require
doubling the current 450 mn. acres (200 mn ha) of
available for crop production- making it infeasible!
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
The BIG Question
 How will these targets achieved?
 Eyes are on AFRICA
 Investors are coming to Africa to acquire land &
put up plants and machinery for commercial
biofuels production
 About 4m sq km of land will be grown to energy
crops in Southern Africa region (e.g., Jatropha)
over the next 5 years
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Scope of Work on WP 6
 To explore the extent to which the national
development energy policies incorporate strategies
for mainstreaming or supporting the development of
the biofuel sector.
 Key questions:
1. What do the national policies state with regard to
bioenergy or biomass energy development?
2. What are the notable gaps in the policies across
countries with regard to bioenergy and energy
crops development?
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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Approach
 PRSPs/national development frameworks
 National energy policies
 Specific biofuels strategies
 National Trade Policies
 Regional Development Frameworks (SADC,
ECOWAS, COMESA)
 International biofuels/trade policies (e.g., WTO,
USA, EU & Asia)
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Summary of key findings
National Development/Energy Policies
 Only the PRSP for Ghana contains specific strategies for biogas
development, with a target of substituting 20% of national gas and
oil consumption with biodiesel and 30% of paraffin to be replaced
with Jatropha oil by 2015.
 Mozambique has adopted a policy for large-scale production of
biofuels, including the gradual introduction of blending of fossil
fuels with biofuels initially at 5 – 10%.
 South Africa has a specific biofuels strategy aims at achieving
market penetration of 4.5% in biofuels by 2013.
 Despite that Malawi has more than 20 years experience in
bioethanol production-it has no specific biofuel strategy
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Summary of key findings
International policies
 There is no clear WTO position on biofuels that may
affect international trade in biofuels:
 Biofuels classification within the context of the
WTO harmonized system
 How subsidies to promote the production or
consumption of biofuels fit in the context of WTO
rules, and
 Consistency of domestic regulations and biofuels
standards.
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
Summary of key findings
Incentives
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Substantial government support has been provided to many
countries that have made significant progress in biofuels such
as South African, USA and other countries in Asia & Europe
 Implications
 African biofuel sector is unlikely to be competitive on
international markets due to
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Subsides and tax incentives provided to producers &
consumers of biofuels in developed countries
Law state of art in biofuel production & processing
High international standard specifications for biofuels
Lack of clear coherent supportive policy on biofuels
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
Caution!
 While the consequences of biofuels on food supply
remain uncertain, they cannot be ignored.
 Biofuels may be sustainable in some instances but
destructive in others.
 If left unmanaged, biofuel production will put heavy
burden on the poor in most countries in Africa
 It is politically and socially immoral (insane) to transform
all food into fuel for cars, yet many people go to bed hungry.
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By taking food off of the table and use it to produce fuel for
cars will make poverty in Africa worse since most people are
net food buyers.
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
The “cost” of inaction
 Despite the controversies surrounding biofuels and its
effects on the poor, a “wait and see” approach will lead to
 Food insecurity as more land will be taken away from
mainstream agriculture for growing of energy crops
 Damage to environment & loss of biodiversity
through clearing of forests and/or encroachment of
protected areas for biofuels
 Missing out on opportunities of biofuels development
 To most oil-importing countries, biofuels offers some
relief on the fuel import bill in oil-importing countries
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
A grain of hope
 Agriculture has always adapted to the changing
needs of mankind- This should also be possible with
biofuels.
 If we slow down the pace, allow scientists and
technologists to develop technologies that will
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increase productivity of agriculture to meet growing global
demand for both food and biofuels.
allow use of non-food feedstock to produce biofuels
 A “happy ending” is possible only if agriculture
can supply both energy & food needs
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
In conclusion
 As we now live in a global village, any significant shift
in agriculture landscape in the industrialized world will
heavily impact Africa.
 Biofuels era is here to stay! As such, countries and
everyone must face reality, and adjust accordingly in
order to survive in the fast changing world
 “It is not the strongest of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one
that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles
Darwin (1809 – 1882) from “On the Origin of
Species” (1859).
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
FANRPAN’s Niche
 As biofuels are expanding rapidly in Africa, FANRPAN
should be in the forefront:
 RESEARCH- To support rigorous research & analysis
to provide evidence-based responses to biofuel
development
 Better understand the direct and indirect impacts of
bioenergy development on production systems.
 Assess technical and policy options for both reducing
the deleterious impacts and enhancing any benefits of
biofuels development.
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
FANRPAN’s Niche
 CAPACITY (POLICY ADVOCACY & DIALOGUE)-
To provide guidance to governments on biofuels policy &
guidelines that safeguards rural communities and the
environment
 VOICE-To sensitize politicians & civil society on the
potential benefits as well as dangers of unregulated
biofuels expansion
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There will be a COMPETE Workshop on ‘Bioenergy
Policies for Sustainable Development in Africa’ in
Bamako, Mali from 25 to 28 November 2008
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Take-home messages
1. Human well-being & rights of every person at the centre of
SSA biofuels strategies, policies, programs.
2. Policies urgently needed in SSA:
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To protect the poor from exploitation by private interests at the
expense of local livelihoods
To prevent from falling into the trap of replacing food crops with
energy crops for producing fuel to power vehicles
To prohibit biofuels expansion to protected areas (e.g., forests,
catchment suitable for of biofuels to rural development
3. Define the biofuels development path in SSA:
Smallholder focus for rural development (e.g. in Mali &
Tanzania) other than commercial focus
 Expansion beyond small-scale to be carefully controlled &
monitored
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your
attention!
[email protected]
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Presented at the FANRPAN Stakeholders Regional Policy Dialogue & Annual General Meeting
Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi, from 1 to 5September 2008
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