According to United Nation’s Food and Agriculture organization, global food import bills are bloating, partly due to the rising demands for biofuels.
The global expenditure on food imports is likely to surpass US$400 billion in 2007, about 5 per cent more than the previous year. The rising prices of imported coarse grains and vegetable oils - grains and food crops that are most heavily used in biofuel production - are blamed to be the main culprit.
The rising demand for coarse grains and increasing import bills is expected to hit the poor and developing countries the most.
FAO economist Adam Prakash said:
The food import basket for the least developed countries in 2007 is expected to cost roughly 90 percent more than it did in 2000. This is in stark contrast to the 22 percent growth in developed country import bills over the same period.
Ever since biofuel obtained from plant sources is seen as an option to decrease fossil-fuel consumption, there has been a rise in prices of coarse grains used for producing fuel. Maize, sugarcane, beet root and several other crops are being used to produce ethanol that is used as an alternative fuel, either in pure form or mixed with traditional fuel.
Maize (also known as corn in several parts of the world) is a staple crop in several poor countries. US, the major producer of maize, had been using it for feeding its livestock and the surplus being sold to other countries. But after the biofuel trend, a big chunk has been diverted for the production of fuel.
Biofuel produced from edible crops is an expensive and unwise proposition. This would do more harm to the world by starving millions of people than saving the environment. Biofuels are not good for carbon emissions as well. Instead of cutting the carbon-emissions due to burning of fossil-fuels, it will only aggravate the problem as more carbon would be emitted in production of biofuel.
Biofuels can be good as long as they are obtained from sources which are not used by humans as food like jatropha seeds. Other wise they will only create another bigger crisis.
Do we want to burn foodgrains in our cars? Think of the millions of people who do not get enough to eat.
Read FAO’s Food Outlook June 2007 for complete report.
Image Source: Idrc.ca
Source: Greencarcongress
