Can biofuels help poor people?
When biofuel policies are targeted at increasing access to energy for poor people in rural areas, there may be very important benefits, particularly for women. Producing biofuels can offer the possibility of improved livelihoods for poor farmers in developing countries. However, in many cases biofuels production is done on massive plantations with labor rights violations and oppressive terms of employment. There are many examples of biofuels production leading to land-grabs and displacement of poor people from their lands. In addition, since many developing countries must import most of their fuel, biofuels offer the potential to replace expensive oil imports with home-grown fuels. But as commodity prices soar, so do the costs of producing biofuels, and for many countries it may be very difficult to realize savings through substitution of biofuels for oil.
