MANIFESTO

Section 6
INDUSTRIAL AGROFUELS - A FALSE SOLUTION AND NEW THREAT TO
FOOD SECURITY
Food is the most basic of human needs and sustainable agriculture must
be based on food first policies. Industrial agrofuels are non-sustainable and
spread genetically modified organisms by stealth.
Agrofuel plantations are aggravating the problem of climate change by
destroying and replacing rain forests with soy, palm oil, and sugar cane
plantations. This has led to an unparalleled land grab of indigenous and rural
communities.
Industrial agrofuels are responsible for perverse subsidies to non-sustainable
agriculture which threaten the food rights of billions of people. To make
matters worse, food prices are increasing due to the rapid conversion from
growing food crops to growing agrofuels.
Sustainable energy policies require decentralization combined with a general
decrease in energy consumption, while maintaining food security as an
overarching objective of food and agriculture systems.
Agrofuels, also referred to as biofuels, are fuels derived from food crops such as
corn, soya, canola and sugar cane, and oil bearing perennials such as jatropha
and palm oil.
Agrofuels are being promoted as the “green” alternative to fossil fuels and the
panacea to climate change. However many scientific reports are now revealing
that when the “cradle to grave” cycle - growing, producing, and burning the
fuels - is considered, agrofuels are a net negative energy system. Research by
professor David Pimental, Cornell University in New York, and professor Ted
Patzek, University of California at Berkeley, reveal that it takes more than one
gallon of fossil fuel (30 percent more) to make one gallon of ethanol, a cornbased
fuel. Thus, ethanol and other agrofuels actually have higher emissions
than fossil fuels.
Yet, despite such evidence that agrofuels do not solve climate issues, many
countries are investing billions and providing mass subsidies to growers and