A leaflet from Action Aid appeared in this week's edition of The Spectator. It quotes the case of Matilde Ngoena a smallholder in Mozambique whose land 'was grabbed' by an industrial biofuel company.  

According to Action Aid, Matilde's twelve children are facing starvation because of the demand for biofuel, and so they are asking people to write to the Department of Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change to change their plan for increasing production of biofuel.

The leaflet says the the amout of corn required to fill one 4x4 tank would feed a child for a year.

What are farmers to do. Listen to their governments, listen to the market, listen to their accountants, listen to their own advisors or listen to Action Aid?

Does not this leaflet illustrate the dilemma faced by farmers who, will be blamed by one group or another what ever they do?

 

 

It's the same the whole world over, isn't it a blxxdy shame, it's the rich what gets the pleasure, and the farmer what gets the blame.

I think Action Aid are a bit late though. It appears to have even reached the brains (and you will be please to know that I use the word advisedly) of the politicians that turning over food producing land to biofuel producing land is not a good idea and former plans to enforce its use have been or are being modified.

bb has mentioned in several posts the potential for algae. I have read a little, but find it all a bit too technical. It looks a possibility though, with the reservation that it appears to have Nitrous Oxide as a by-product or waste - I think. If so then that is a much, much worse greenhouse gas than CO2.

 

Peter Wells:

According to Action Aid, Matilde's twelve children are facing starvation because of the demand for biofuel, and so they are asking people to write to the Department of Transport and the Department for Energy and Climate Change to change their plan for increasing production of biofuel.

 

The personal human misery is clear but I wonder what legal protection Matilde had to farm in the first place, while I sympathise with her plight the reality is that she was in all probability an extralegal with no formal property rights whatsoever, unable to use her asset to raise funds to protect her interests just barely subsistence farm in order to survive. This is the pretty feudal and futile situation huge numbers of people in the so called developing worlds are dealing with. I assume Peter that the Action Aid leaflet was soliciting for funds, if this is the case what would they have used the funds for, did they say?

the greenth:

I assume Peter that the Action Aid leaflet was soliciting for funds, if this is the case what would they have used the funds for, did they say?

In this case they were asking people to send a freepost postcard addressed to themselves which they were then going to take to some meeting they have with some officials.

I do however always read such leaflets for a hidden agenda, and I take this approach because I do not always agree with particular actions taken by charities and so limit my donations to those who take the practical actions with which I agree.

 

Old Mc,

           Off on a Tangent again but have a look at " Hydro Runner " Spliting Water by Hydrolosis from the Vehicle Battery and reducing Emissons by up to 90%.Fuel consumption 50 % improvement. Fossil or Veg Fuel still driving the Alternator but much less pollutants from Veg Oil to begin with. The combination of these Tecnologies has to be the future.

 Peasant farmers outside of the communal tribal lands are usually considered squatters, as the land will be either private or government owned. Absentee landlords are now selling their properties after years of not having their title aknowledged, no doubt we will see a similar scenario in Zimbabwe when the country finally returns to responsible government.

Someone who has TWELVE children blaming bio fuels for their hunger.  Breeding to excess is the root cause of the World`s problems, not biofuel.

Well said farmerbill! The Chinese are the only people to have realised this, but even they have given up on trying to do something about it. We keep being told that as living standards around the world rise reproduction will fall, but you only have to look at statistics in our own country where a vast proportion of births are to parents from other countries, who presumably came here to raise their living standards. If the theory is going to work, the delay is going to be catastrophic.

farmerbill/bovril, Would you undergo a vasectomy? I did after one child. How many would you want before you did it voluntarily? How many if you were being paid? Just a question, because I believe we could slash population growth in ANY country by paying men enough (a very variable sum) to have the op.It is painless, quick, and will not diminish those occasional urges (not as occasional as they used to be).

I'd personally suggest self restraint rather than surgery (from making babies, not the practicing!!) Although that obviously doesn't work for everyone!