Local biofuel production for rural electrification potentially promotes development but threatens food security in Laela, Western Tanzania

Abstract

The impacts of biofuel production and the adequacy of the associated production structures are controversial matters despite a projected medium-term growth rate increase. Concurrently, electricity is increasingly perceived as a prerequisite for development. In this article, we assess the potential impacts of the local production of biofuels for electricity production on development and the food supply in the village of Laela in Western Tanzania. Based on a village survey, focus group discussions and expert interviews, we calculated the potential food security effects on four different economic types of farmer groups. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the potential use of sunflower and groundnut oils as substitutes for fossil fuels for the production of electricity. The baseline framework is based on a comparison of crop production data with current fossil fuel consumption. The ex-ante scenarios assess the gap between the estimated yield losses and the increasing fuel demand through 2015. These comparative analyses of schemes in which vegetable oil production replaces a given level of crop production showed that replacing food crops with crops producing biofuel will most likely impact local food security negatively, causing increased hunger, especially for the poorest farmers and even if climate change is not considered.