WUNRN
FAO Study - UN Food &
Agriculture Organization
Large-Scale
Biofuel Production May Increase Marginalization of Women
New
Study on Biofuel Production Focuses on Gender
21
April 2008, Rome
– Rapid increases in the large-scale production of liquid biofuels in
developing countries could exacerbate the marginalization of women in rural
areas threatening their livelihoods, according to a new FAO study.
The study notes that large-scale plantations for the production of liquid
biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel require an intensive use of resources
and inputs to which small farmers, particularly women, traditionally have
limited access. These resources include land and water, chemical fertilizers
and pesticides.
“Unless policies are adopted in developing countries to strengthen the
participation of small farmers, especially women in biofuel production by
increasing their access to land, capital and technology - gender inequalities
are likely to become more marked and women’s vulnerability to hunger and
poverty further exacerbated,” said Yianna Lambrou, co-author of the paper
entitled Gender and Equity Issues in Liquid Biofuels Production – Minimizing
the Risks to Maximize the Opportunities. “Biofuel production certainly offers
opportunities for farmers – but they will only trickle down to the farm level,
especially to women, if pro-poor policies are put in place that also empower
women.”
The pressure from biofuel production
The growing global demand for liquid biofuels, combined with increased land
requirements, could put pressure on so-called “marginal” lands, which provide
key subsistence functions to the rural poor and are frequently farmed by women,
the report noted. The conversion of these lands to plantations for biofuels
production “might cause the partial or total displacement of women’s agricultural
activities towards increasingly marginal lands,” with negative consequences for
women’s ability to provide food, according to the report.
The potential depletion or degradation of natural resources associated with
large-scale plantations for biofuel production may place an additional burden
on rural farmers’ work and health, in particular on female farmers. If biofuel
production competes, either directly or indirectly, for water and firewood
supplies, it could make such resources less readily available for household
use. This would force women, who are traditionally responsible, in most
developing countries, for collecting water and firewood, to travel longer
distances thus reducing the time available to earn income from other sources.
The report also warned that the replacement of local crops with monoculture
energy crop plantations could threaten agro-biodiversity as well as the
extensive knowledge and the traditional skills of smallholder farmers in the
management, selection and storage of local crops, all activities performed
mainly by women.
Unequal employment opportunities
The establishment of plantations for biofuel production may create new
employment opportunities in rural areas. These opportunities are targeted
mainly to low-skilled agricultural workers, who are increasingly employed on a
seasonal or casual basis. A growing number of these workers are women (around
40 percent of the total in Latin America and the Caribbean), who due to
existing social inequalities tend to be particularly disadvantaged, compared to
men, in terms of wages, working conditions and benefits, training and exposure
to safety and health risks.
The report stresses the need for further research and data on the
socio-economic effects of liquid biofuel production on men and women.
The study calls for an environmentally sustainable and pro-poor biofuel
development strategy, integrating energy crop plantations into existing local
agri-food systems in order to protect smallholder farmers’ traditional
agricultural activities, skills and specialized knowledge, which are crucial to
the food security and long-term resilience of rural communities.
Measures should be taken to ensure that women and female-headed households have
the same opportunity as men to engage in and benefit from the sustainable
production of liquid biofuels. This is all the more important as the number of
households headed by women is growing, with around 40 percent of the total in
Southern Africa and 35 percent in the Caribbean.
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