Agrofuels land-grab: South Africa.

DECEMBER 2008, AFRICAN CENTRE FOR BIOSAFETY -- A newly launched report by the African Centre for Biosafety, Agrofuels in South Africa: Projects, Players and Poverty, condemns the 'Biofuels' roll-out in South Africa as a strategy to allow agribusiness to grab land from the rural poor in the former homelands. The SA Agrofuels industry is portrayed as an initiative to create jobs and produce clean, renewable energy. The reality, however, is development of a local agrofuels industry will accelerate industrial agriculture, resulting in displacement of rural communities and destruction of natural ecosystems. According to Mariam Mayet, Director of the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), "What is at play here is not biofuels production (green energy) but rather agrofuels, with production of food crops in large-scale, industrial plantations, often involving GMos and expensive, toxic agrochemicals. Agrofuels production is sure to enrich agribusiness and exacerbate rural poverty" According to the ACB report, 8 agrofuels projects are currently operational in South Africa. Major financial investments have focussed on infrastructure development in the Independent Development Zones (IDZS). International players are extensively involved, and an Australian company has been licensed to build a biodiesel plant at Coega, probably utilising GM soya belonging to Gene Giant, Monsanto. Huge tracts of communal land, which the SA government cynically terms 'under-utilsed, are up for grabs. According to the ACB report, agrofuels manufacturers only qualify for a licence if they use crops from 'under-utilised' land, this will lead to communal land being locked into a 'Green Revolution, unsustainable industrialised model of agriculture. "This strategy is likely to plunge rural communities into debt, resulting in loss of their livestock and potentially their land, to settle the debt they incur. It is vitally importance to stress this land is not under-utilised, it provides communities with diverse resources, livestock grazing, wild foods, traditional seeds, medicinal plants and building materials which are integral to supporting their rural livelihoods and culture," said ACB board member Vanessa Black. See www. biosafetyafrica.net