Biofuels and food security: Micro-evidence from Ethiopia |
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| Affiliation: | 1. LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, Department of Economics, KU Leuven, Belgium 3000, Belgium;2. Centre for Food Security and the Environment (FSE), Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States;1. Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India;2. Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati, India;1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China;2. Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining, Zhejiang 314400, China;3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;1. Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Leuven, Group-T Campus, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;2. LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance & Department of Economics, University of Leuven, Waaistraat 6, bus 5311, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;2. Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing 100875, China;3. Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Center for Resources Energy and Sustainable Development, Low Carbon Energy Building, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;4. Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China;5. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;1. Institute of Sustainable Resources, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK;2. Institute of Science and Society, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK |
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| Abstract: | There is considerable controversy about the impact of biofuels on food security in developing countries. A major concern is that biofuels reduce food security by increasing food prices. In this paper we use survey evidence to assess the impact of castor production on poor and food insecure rural households in Ethiopia. About 1/3 of poor farmers have allocated on average 15% of their land to the production of castor beans under contract in biofuel supply chains. Castor production significantly improves their food security: they have fewer months without food and the amount of food they consume increases. Castor cultivation is beneficial for participating households’ food security in several ways: by generating cash income from castor contracts, they can store food for the lean season; castor beans preserve well on the field which allows sales when farmers are in need of cash (or food); spillover effects of castor contracts increases the productivity of food crops. Increased food crop productivity offsets the amount of land used for castor so that the total local food supply is not affected. |
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| Keywords: | Biofuel Food security Ethiopia |
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