Socio-economic effects of large-scale biofuel investments in Sub-Saharan Africa

For several years, the German Development Institute / Deutsche Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) has been conducting empirical research on the development impacts of biofuel production in developing countries as well as its regulatory and policy environment. In recent years,the research focused on the socio-economic implications of large-scale agro-industrial (biofuel) investments in Sub-Saharan Africa and related regulatory and policy frameworks. Extensive empirical research was undertaken in Malawi and Tanzania.

Project Lead:
Michael Brüntrup

Project description

For several years, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) has been conducting empirical research on the development impacts of biofuel production in development countries. Initial studies focussed on the comparison of different organizational arrangements for Jatropha produciton in five Inidian states as well as the analysis of socio-economic effect of Jatropha production in Namibia. Both studies further analysed the regulatory environment and supporting policies.
Most recently, the institute was involved in a larger inter-disciplinary inter-institutional research project called "Fair Fuels?" that addressed the question to which extent biofuels can be produced and used in a socio-ecologically compatible manner. The component of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) studied the implications of large-scale agro-industrial biofuel investments in Sub-Saharan Africa for rural poverty and food security and assessed national policies and the regulatory framework important for biofuel value chains. Extensive empirical research was undertaken in Malawi and Tanzania.

Publications

Project Coordination

Sonja Packschies