US-Brazil biofuel partnership destructive – NGO

30 March 2007 19:15  [Source: ICIS news]

(ICIS news)--A Brazil-US biofuels partnership may have severe repercussions on millions of rural poor, international anti-poverty agency ActionAid said on Friday.

The agency said ethanol represents a viable alternative energy solution, but also warned that production of the biofuels has resulted in land grabs and a reduction in the amount of farmland available for food crops.

"We are talking about unfair trade-offs," an ActionAid official said.

Brazil and the US are the two largest ethanol producers, together accounting for about 70% of global ethanol production. Production has grown dramatically in both countries, backed by political policies aimed at promoting supply.

ActionAid's statement came in advance of an official visit to the US by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil on Saturday. The leaders of both countries will discuss ethanol, as reported by ICIS news.

In US newspapers on Friday, Lula published a statement deflecting criticism that ethanol would cause more poverty in Brazil by displacing food crops.

Lula said Brazil uses less than 20% of the 340m hectares of arable land it has for crops, and that only 1% of that, or 3m hectares, is used to harvest sugarcane.

By: William Lemos
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