Viewpoints: Biofuels and trees in humid tropical countries of West Africa. Experts address the question: Can the growing demand for biofuels be met without threatening food security?

Ruf François, Legoupil Jean-Claude. 2009. Viewpoints: Biofuels and trees in humid tropical countries of West Africa. Experts address the question: Can the growing demand for biofuels be met without threatening food security?. Natural Resources Forum, 33 (2) : 173.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2009.01220.x

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Quartile : Q4, Sujet : ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES / Quartile : Q4, Sujet : ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Liste HCERES des revues (en SHS) : oui

Thème(s) HCERES des revues (en SHS) : Economie-gestion

Note générale : Point de vue des experts Cirad p. 173

Résumé : In the humid tropics, with rich tree crops such as cocoa and abundant staples such as cassava, is there any place for biofuels? Using staple and annual crops as biofuels is dangerous for food security. However, to exploit trees/ perennial crops along with the capacity of the tropics to generate rapid growth of perennials for the production of biofuels would be logical. As an integral part of an improved slash-and-burn system, they could contribute to food security. In West Africa, the dominant tree crop - cocoa - often competes with food crops at the mature stage of the cocoa farm but does not do so at the two ends of the farm life cycle. At the young stage, the tree is intercropped with a number of different food crops. When the 'perennial' dies, food crops reappear. This cycle can be managed and adapted to 'perennials' such as oil palm and Jatropha, and also accompany social change. The driving forces of oil palm cultivation are that replanting cocoa on degraded land is difficult and farmers like to maintain a tree cover on their land as a property marker. Market diversification of palm oil to include biofuels may support this strategy. As a shrub that can be grown on degraded land, Jatropha is also emerging at just the right time. (Texte intégral)

Mots-clés Agrovoc : biocarburant, Theobroma cacao, Elaeis guineensis, sécurité alimentaire, forêt tropicale humide

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Afrique occidentale

Classification Agris : P06 - Sources d'énergie renouvelable
S01 - Nutrition humaine - Considérations générales
K01 - Foresterie - Considérations générales

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 2 (2005-2013) - Biomasse énergie et sociétés du sud

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