Social Impacts of Biofuel Production in Africa

Within the last decade there have been significant discussions and initiatives on use of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels. Primarily, the interest in biofuels as alternative fuels has been prompted by their perceived ease of availability and increasing world oil prices. In Africa biofuel programmes have been seen to have the added advantage of catalyzing rural development. Brazil has frequently been cited as an example of what a biofuel programme can add to the development of struggling and infant economies in Africa. At the same time, a cautious approach for the implementation of biofuel programmes in Africa has been advocated by a number of civil societies and international organizations. Countries have been warned of the existence of risks that come hand in hand with the perceived benefits of biofuel programmes. Such concerns have spurred governments and institutions in Africa and elsewhere to come up with biofuel strategies for ensuring implementable and sustainable biofuel programmes. This chapter discusses some of the major social impacts of implementation of biofuel programmes in Africa, and makes recommendations on issues that need to be addressed for biofuel programmes to be sustainable in Africa.