Africa does not exist - moving on to new lands

On the basis of what has happened over the past year in the bioenergy and biofuels debate, Biopact concludes that to many European organisations Africa does simply not exist. We regret this, because last time we checked, the continent did exist. We have been there. Sub-Saharan Africa is a continent with great potential, but in urgent need of concrete opportunities to develop.

Biopact has tried to present a case that would allow Europe to help African agriculture achieve its much needed revival and expansion, through biofuels (or through food production, which comes down to the same thing). But this proposition is too complex and obviously too idealistic. It presupposes too many preconditions that have to be met, from trade reform and subsidy reform, to policy assistance and tech transfers. Moreover, the opponents to such an idea are powerful: the oil sector, environmentalists, subsidised farmers in Europe...

Sub-Saharan Africa has a very large potential to produce agricultural products in a sustainable way - be it biomass, liquid biofuels, or food. In fact, the continent is only beginning to experience its own Green Revolution and will take center stage in agriculture over the coming decades. We are optimistic about its chances to become a major producer that feeds and fuels its own populations, and exports to world markets instead of being perpetually dependent on fuel and food imports from Europe, the US or the Middle East.

To African farming communities, it doesn't matter whether the excess they produce to get out of poverty, is used to feed animals, cars, power plants or people. As long as the community succeeds in improving its resilience, its own security and prosperity. This is true for all farming communities, which make up the vast bulk of Africa's population. Producing highly efficient biofuels that cut greenhouse gas emissions would have been an interesting option for them to speed up this transition from subsistence farming to commercial production.

Sadly, some very powerful forces in Europe - the subsidized farm lobby, the oil sector, some environmental groups, and segments of the development community -, have succeeded in ignoring this potential and logic. On the one hand, some of these groups (especially development NGOs) have been asking the public in Europe to help African rural populations gain more means to modernise and access markets. They have been asking this for years, and heavily campaigned on it. But when the most obvious opportunity to do so emerged, they ignored it.

A few years ago, Biopact launched a simple idea: African countries could utilize their comparative advantages to produce highly efficient agricultural products for a new global market (biofuels, or food, which is the same thing). Europe and other industrialised markets could import these fuels, which are far more efficient and environmentally friendly than the ones they produce themselves - a 'pact' that would allow African economies to boost rural development and that would benefit the climate fight.

Such a trade relationship would at last break with the current perverse and shameful situation, which keeps African countries with a large farming potential dependent on subsidised agricultural imports from Europe and America and catastrophically expensive imported oil products. Any proposal should be welcomed that helps them to become efficient producers, instead of dependent and powerless consumers who ruin the development chances of their own rural populations. Regrettably, the war against biofuels has destroyed one such opportunity.

Biopact's vision remains unchanged, though, but will now be applied to food production, instead of biomass production for fuels. This is less controversial, even though it comes down to exactly the same thing and requires largely the same agricultural expertise. The logic behind the venture remains simple: finding market opportunities for rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop, without relying on handouts or charity, and by addressing the key issues of trade, subsidies, sustainability and social justice. We have been developing a very concrete project that assists the very poorest farmers on the continent in boosting their production of staple crops like maize, rice and cassava. The project will be presented soon but can be compared to initiatives like the OneAcreFund, which bundle access to inputs and markets. This much can be said, though: the project is not based on government funding or charity, but will use markets, local resources, science, and inventiveness only.

This new direction does not mean an end to the biofuels adventure in any way. The green fuels will be produced for a long time to come in countries like Brazil, where they are being manufactured in a highly efficient manner. But this South American nation will also help African nations build their own bioenergy sectors, and possibly open an era of South-South driven development in which energy security plays a key role - simply because access to abundant and affordable energy is the sine qua non for sustainable development. High oil prices and a reliance on the internal combustion engine in developing countries, make this future unavoidable. Likewise, countries like China and India will enter the African continent to tap into its very large unrealised potential for both food and fuel production. In fact, all these rapidly emerging economies are already building a presence on the continent with a swiftness that has surprised many.

Biopact thought the EU too had an obligation to enter the African biomass sector, so as to set high social and economic standards that would become an example for others to follow. Sadly, European public opinion and especially its environmentalist segment, does not see the need for such a presence. What is more, in a sense, it thinks Africa does not really exist. Or that its development is not that important. We think this is a mistake. For this reason we will be building our own very concrete project there, in that non-existing, blind spot on the map. The time to act has come [entry ends here].
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: agriculture :: farming :: food :: rural development :: Africa ::