Biofuel production threatens food security in rural Uganda

Uganda is facing increasing demand for energy to meet social and economic development and improve the wellbeing of Ugandan citizens. The Uganda Renewable Energy Policy 2007 encourages development of renewable energy, including growing biofuel crops to contribute to energy balance and meet the growing energy demand of the country.

Uganda has a national strategy for bioenergy development, and it is hoped that bioenergy will increase the renewable energy mix from four to sixty one percent of total energy consumption by 2017. Several agrofuel crops have been suggested for biodiesel production including: sugarcane, maize, ground nuts, soya beans, cassava, oil palm, sunflower, castor oil nut, candlenut tree, croton and jatropha. However, Friends of the Earth Uganda/ the National Association of Professional Environmentalists and other civil society organization have continued to demand that feed stocks from non-food crops be used for biodiesel production, and that biodiesel projects should not compete for land with food crops.

The government of Uganda is offering incentives such as tax holidays, lifting export restrictions, and repatriation of profits to woo foreign investors into the energy sector. Many foreign investors have shown interest in developing biodiesel projects in Uganda. Already a few companies have established massive biodiesel feedstock farms in different parts of the country. Among these companies are Nexus Biodiel LTD, a US-based Biodiesel Company and African Power Initiative Limited (API), an Ethiopian based biodiesel company.

Nexus Biodiel LTD is operating in the North and North-Western parts of the country and has planted over 400 hectares (988.4 acres) of jatropha, sunflower, castor nuts and candlenut. They have also recruited local communities and now boast more than 2,000 registered out- growers who facilitate their project. Meanwhile African Power Initiative Limited (API), acquired 49.4211 hectares (20000 acres) of land in the Karamoja region (North-East Uganda) and they too are growing jatropha, sunflower, castor nut and croton. They have interested hundreds of rural communities as out-growers to facilitate the supply of feed stocks to their company. API recently unveiled plans for mass production of biodiesel. They have already installed the first biodiesel plant in Kampala with the capacity to refine 4000 litres of biodiesel per day. They plan to move to a full design capacity of 60,000 liters and refine 150 tons of oil seeds per day. But this will only be possible as more oil seed stock becomes available.

Biodiesel companies in Uganda will, however, need to acquire large chunks of land to be able to achieve the objectives of their projects. According to the management of Nexu, an acre of land can accommodate only about 430 trees of jatropha, and each tree can produce about five kilograms of seed a year. When refined, five kilograms of oil seeds can generate just one liter of diesel in a year, and yet millions of liters of diesel will be required to make a meaningful contribution to the energy sector in order to reduce fossil fuel consumption just in one year. This means that more land will be required to grow biodiesel feed stocks to meet the required capacity.

Large-scale mono-culture agribusinesses often use highly polluting agrichemicals which damage or pollute soil, water and the general environment. Above all, it is a recipe for food insecurity as it creates a shift from growing crops for food to growing crops for profits. Already communities involved in growing feed-stocks for biodiesel projects are facing food shortages because they have neglected to grow food crops to sustain their families by committing all their farm lands and labour to growing jatropha and other feed-stocks as their mainstay. Besides, the proceeds they earn from the sale of biodiesel feed stocks are spent on buying food and other necessities from the markets. This kind of work is not sustainable as it does not lead to poverty alleviation or an improvement in livelihoods.