(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

assess the direction of the ownership and/or control over land resources (e.g. transfer
from poor people to social dominant classes, or vice-versa), and how it impacts poor
people, in particular poor peasants and rural labourers. 7 Furthermore, not all deals
have the same effects. Certain deals, in addition to lead to the non-(re)distribution or
the (re) concentration of land wealth and power, are particularly problematic because
of their specific impact on food security and on the environment. The character,
direction and orientation of land-use change is another important parameter to analyse
land deals. Certain types of land use changes, for instance converting land used for
the production of food for consumption to the production of agrofuels, have extremely
negative effects, and constitute the core of the phenomenon of land grabbing.
As a result, for the purpose of the present report, land grabbing is used to refer to the
phenomenon of concentration of land and associated natural resources,
particularly water, wealth and power due to domestic or foreign investments,
with implications for human rights, food security and the environment.
1.2.2. Biofuels and agrofuels
There are uncertainties as to how to use the term “biofuels,” and what the difference is
from “agrofuels,” As ActionAid and Friends of the Earth explain:
The term biofuel, by itself, should only refer to fuel produced
from waste processes such as landfill off-gassing, recycled
vegetable oil or small scale sustainable production for local use.
Agrofuels are also biofuels but refer to the fact that the
biological material is an agricultural crop, produced intensively
by agribusiness, in large-scale monoculture plantations and
which compete, directly or indirectly, with food. These are
agrofuels produced on an industrial scale. 8
However, under the pressure of the industry, the term “biofuel” is more commonly used
to refer to all types of liquid fuels made from biomass, as the term “bio” also implies
some sort of environmental benefit (for example the French word for organic is
biologique). 9 This is the definition the EU chose:
‘biofuels’ means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced
from biomass 10
For the purpose of this report, biofuels and agrofuels will be used interchangeably,
but agrofuels will generally designate biofuels that are produced in an industrial
way. The former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, took a
similar approach:
The Special Rapporteur uses the term “agrofuels”
interchangeably with the more commonly used expression of
“biofuels”. Using the term “agrofuels” highlights how the
interests of the agro-industrial monopolies will dominate over
the interests of the world’s poor and hungry, especially in the
developing world. 11
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