Biofuels and food security: Micro-evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractThis paper provides microeconomic evidence on food security impacts of privately organized biofuel outgrower schemes in Ethiopia. We conducted a household and community level survey and evaluated the impact of castor bean farming. We use endogenous switching regressions to analyze the impact on food security. Food security (as measured by a "food gap") and food caloric intake is significantly better in households producing castor beans. "Fuel" and "food" are complements rather than substitutes at the micro-level in castor production in Ethiopia.

Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Review of recent research

“…One example from a food insecure region indicates otherwise; when smallholders plant, on average, 15% of their land is for contract-based biofuel markets. The result is improved household food security and may also result in a spill over effect of increasing food crop productivity (Negash and Swinnen, 2013).…”

Assessing the food security outcomes of industrial crop expansion in smallholder settings: insights from cotton production in Northern Ghana and sugarcane production in Central Ethiopia

“…This is particularly true for studies exploring the effects of IC expansion (Ewing and Msangi 2009;Van Eijck et al 2014); few studies have examined the effects of IC expansion on food price stability and utilization pillars (Negash and Swinnen 2013). It has been pointed that comprehensive and robust assessments of food security in IC settings are largely lacking in the literature (Wiggins et al 2015).…”

“…On the other hand, local spillover benefits to food security from IC production have also been identified. These include (a) the ability to purchase food and agricultural inputs/assets (e.g., fertilizers and animal traction equipment) thanks to the income received from selling ICs (Theriault and Tschirley 2014;Wendimu et al 2016), (b) improved market access resulting from newly developed infrastructure (Govereh and Jayne 2003;von Maltitz et al 2016), and (c) increased food crop productivity resulting from access to extension services (Negash and Swinnen 2013). However, understanding the food security outcomes of IC expansion can be a complicated task as there are multiple mechanisms that link IC production and food security (Wiggins et al 2015).…”

Household Level Spillover Effects from Biofuels

“…Some studies on the impact of biofuels suggest that biofuel investments provide alternative income through employment, boost economic growth, and thereby reduce the incidence of poverty and improve food security (Arndt et al, 2011;Huang et al, 2012;Negash & Swinnen, 2013). Others show that biofuel expansion reduces the availability of food and increases food prices, thereby jeopardizing food security for the poor (FAO, 2008;von Braun et al 2008;Mitchell, 2008;Zhang et al 2013).…”