Africa Can Grow Biofuel Crops Without Harming Food, Habitats, Study Shows

Africa can grow biofuel crops on a “significant scale” without damaging food production or natural habitats, researchers said.

A study of biofuel production in Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Mozambique found enough land is available to “significantly” raise cultivation of sugar cane, sorghum and jatropha for energy production without reducing food output, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, or FARA, said in a statement today.

In less developed African countries, yields may be tripled by “improved management practices,” potentially freeing up land for energy crops, the researchers said. Farmers in Nigeria produce about 1.8 metric tons of corn a hectare (2.47 acres), less than half the world average and under a fifth of U.S. yields, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Biofuel production may prompt investments “that could help unlock Africa’s latent potential and positively increase food production,” Rocio Diaz-Chavez, a research fellow at Imperial College London who led the study, said in the statement.

Locally produced ethanol can be blended with fossil fuels to reduce African dependence on energy imports, according to the statement. Biodiesel to power electrical generators is “of keen interest” in many areas because of challenges to the power grid, FARA said.

FARA was set up by intergovernmental organizations and national research institutes. The report was produced by FARA, Imperial College London and CAMCO International Ltd. CAMCO is a U.K. investor in emission-reduction projects.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net.

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