The large-scale production of liquid biofuels in developing countries could contribute to the marginalisation of women and female-headed households, warns the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a study entitled “Gender and equity issues in liquid biofuels production” (2008). The environmental and socio-economic risks accompanying liquid biofuels production affect the entire rural population, but especially the more vulnerable female-headed households. Women have less access to land, to factors of production and to the labour market. Their chances of getting work on the plantations are lower and the working conditions often worse than men’s. In many cases there is also an increased health risk. Therefore, according to the study, it is important that the biofuels strategies currently being negotiated and implemented in several countries are gender sensitive. There must be a guarantee that the same opportunities will be created by liquid biofuels production for women and female-headed households as for men and maleheaded households. This is particularly relevant in view of the growing female workforce in the agricultural sector and the increasing number of femaleheaded households.

In general the governments of developing countries should support small-scale farmers in liquid biofuels production by providing improved access to land, capital and technologies. In order to guarantee a pro-poor biofuel development strategy it is important to incorporate the existing local agrifood systems. Smallholders’ traditional cultivation methods and knowledge are indispensable for the food security and long-term stabilisation of the developing countries and must therefore be preserved.

At an international level common rules are needed to ensure social and environmental sustainability. An integrated approach to liquid biofuels production could include, among other things, sustainable land management practices and the cultivation of perennial non-food crops such as jatropha. Policies must be designed in such a way that local populations profi t from liquid biofuels production. To that end, policies should fi rst be assessed as to whether they are in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the especially important ones in this case being MDG 1 (eradication of hunger and poverty), MDG 3 (gender equality) und MDG 7 (environmental sustainability).

The study can be downloaded at:
www.fao.org

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