Reconciling food security and bioenergy: priorities for action
[1];
- Environmental Science Division Climate Change Science Institute Oak Ridge National Laboratory TN 37831 USA
- International Food Policy Research Institute 2033 K St NW Washington DC 20006 USA
- Center for Bioenergy Sustainability Environmental Science Division ORNL Oak Ridge TN 37831 USA
- Centre for Environmental Policy Imperial College London Exhibition Road London SW7 1NA UK
- Instituto de Química Universidade de São Paulo Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748 São Paulo Brazil
- Department of Biotechnology Delft University of Technology 2628 BC Delft The Netherlands
- CSTM University of Twente 7500AE Enschede The Netherlands
- Instituto de Ingeniería Rural INTA cc 25 1712 Castelar Buenos Aires Argentina
- Stockholm Environment Institute Africa Centre World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) United Nations Avenue, Gigiri PO Box 30677 Nairobi Kenya
- BEE Energy 2000 Nicasio Valley Rd. Nicasio CA 94946 USA
- World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 USA
Addressing the challenges of understanding and managing complex interactions among food security, biofuels, and land management requires a focus on specific contextual problems and opportunities. The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals prioritize food and energy security and bioenergy links these two priorities. Effective food security programs begin by clearly defining the problem and asking, What options will be effective to assist people at high risk? Headlines and cartoons that blame biofuels for food insecurity reflect good intentions but mislead the public and policy makers because they obscure or miss the main drivers of local food insecurity and opportunities for biofuels to contribute to solutions. Applying sustainability guidelines to bioenergy will help achieve near- and long- term goals to eradicate hunger. Priorities for achieving successful synergies between bioenergy and food security include (1) clarifying communications with clear and consistent terms, (2) recognizing that food and bioenergy do not compete for land but food and bioenergy systems can and do work together to improve resource management, (3) investing in innovations to build capacity and infrastructure such as rural agricultural extension and technology, (4) promoting stable prices that incentivize local production, (5) adopting flex crops that can provide food along with other products and services to society, and (6) engaging stakeholders in identifying and assessing specific opportunities for biofuels to improve food security. In conclusion, systematic monitoring and analysis to support adaptive management and continual improvement are essential elements to build synergies and help society equitably meet growing demands for both food and energy.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; FAPESP 2012/23765-0
- OSTI ID:
- 1256995
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1261688; OSTI ID: 1328284
- Journal Information:
- Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Vol. 9 Journal Issue: 3; ISSN 1757-1693
- Publisher:
- Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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