Environmental Engineering Reference
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Saharan African firms having no influence in the system (Borras Jr et al. 2010;
Dauvergne and Neville 2010). Furthermore, the low efficiencies, technologies and
participation in global markets, of Sub-Saharan African countries implies that they
may not in the long run competitively profit from the agrofuel sector when all
costs, e.g. externalities, are factored in (Borras Jr et al. 2010; GRAIN 2010). Some
Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced civil unrest over high food prices
because of increased demand for agrofuels, consequently threatening national se-
curity (RFA 2008; Africanews 2008; Nyamute 2008). Violent evictions of indige-
nous peoples in order to grow agrofuels, as well as gender, labour and human
rights abuses have been documented in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and
Malaysia (FAO 2008a; Biofuelwatch et al. 2007). It is conceivable that such prac-
tices may also occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Evictions of local populations have
already occurred in Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania (Cotula et al. 2009; Africanews
2008). It is within this context that the author argues that:
• the potential adverse impacts of agrofuel sector on the food security and wel-
fares of citizens be predicted, evaluated, mitigated, and where possible,
avoided;
• the PPPPs- and decision-making processes be cognizant of the multi-sectoral
benefits, costs and trade-offs associated with the production of agrofuel crops
(see FAO 2008b; RFA 2008; Arungu-Olende 2007; Dufey et al. 2007).
Therefore, the overriding concern is: what decision-making criteria can integrate
the full consideration of the socio-economic and environmental impacts of produc-
ing agrofuel crops,on the sustainable devolvement agenda of Sub-Saharan Africa
countries?
17.3.1 Weakness of Current Decision-making Context
for Agrofuel Crops
While agrofuel production is gaining ground in Sub-Saharan Africa, there remains
a lack of formally established set of clear criteria for guiding or determining the
sustainability of the agrofuel crops, and consequently, the entire sector (UNEP
2009a; AFREPREN/FWD 2007). Sustainability concerns have mostly been based
on lifecycle (net) greenhouse gas emissions and/or lifecycle (net) energy produc-
tion (REN21 2010); an approach limited in scope if the socio-economic and envi-
ronmental pillars of sustainability (see Gibson 2006) are to be considered. A lit-
erature search by this author did not reveal a more comprehensive list of
decisional criteria to determine agrofuels' sustainability under the various compet-
ing socio-economic and environmental contexts. However, encouragingly, the
government of Kenya drafted a five-year biodiesel policy strategy (GoK 2008),
which listed some strategic decisional criteria that provide a starting point. A sec-
ond weakness of the decision-making context for agrofuel crops in Sub-Saharan
Africa comes from the fact that the 'sustainability' of most agrofuel PPPPs is not
adequately underpinned by sound evidence or empirical data (UNEP 2009a). For
example, policies in Sub-Saharan African countries have already set targets for
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