(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

4. Case studies
Three case studies are presented below, to give a concrete idea of the reality of
agrofuel production in Africa. A first case shows the impact of agrofuels in a specific
small project – SBE in Senegal, a second case sums up findings about the role of
agrofuels in a region, the Office du Niger area in Mali, and a third case moves to an
analysis at the country level, by presenting the findings of a recent inquiry on agrofuels
in Kenya.
4.1. A project: SBE in Senegal
The Senegalese government has been actively promoting the development of biofuels
in the country, including for exports, in the last years. A table of the main projects
agreed in 2010, shows that a substantive part of the investments in biofuel in the
country are coming from Europe (eg. Italy, Spain, Germany). According to a report:
In Senegal, the promotion of bio fuel was based on the
conviction that “[biofuel will help us diversify our energy sources
and reduce the increasing oil bill while protecting the
environment from pollution.” But even ordinary people seem to
see through the rhetoric about using bio fuel investments for
domestic energy needs. A grassroots supervisor of
cooperatives of banana producers in the Tambacounda region
has expressed his concerns that: “It is clear that, given the size
of the land surfaces required by the private developers coming
from Europe and elsewhere, the objective is mass production
for export ... I was very surprised by this rush, by the surface
areas required, and by the lack of information given to small
producers ....”
Indeed, foreign companies are reported to have committed to
install bio fuel plants in Senegal with the aim of exporting the
fuels. 109
A field study conducted in December 2011 and January 2012 by the national peasant
platform, the Conseil National de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux (CNCR)
– which is strongly mobilising to defend stable access to land by small producers/rural
communities – assessed the impact of a biofuel plantation. 110 The research focused on
the investment by SBE Senegal. Information collected indicated that the capital of this
company is fully Italian. The company aims at planting jatropha in Senegal over a 5
years pilot phase (2008-2012). It envisages to eventually cover 10 000 ha in Senegal,
to produce 500 tons of seeds the first year, and 550 tons the second year, for a total of
2000 to 2 500 litres of vegetable oil annually.
SBE’s initial plans were to start by exploiting 800 ha in 16 villages. A plantation in the
village of Beude-Dieng (120 km north of Dakar, in the Rural Community of Merina
Dakar) served as a pilot project, which, if successful, should be expanded and
replicated in other areas of the country. In 2007, SBE requested the Rural Community
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