Bioenergy demand, agricultural markets and food security

This paper examines the impact of rising demand for bioenergy on agricultural markets and prices. It reviews quantitative assessments of bioenergy potential and concludes that demand for bioenergy is significant enough to create a change in the traditional paradigm for global agriculture, which has been characterized for dec-ades by robust supply growth, slowing demand and falling real prices for agricul-tural products. It then assesses the competitiveness of selected agricultural feedstocks in the transportation and heating fuel markets and identifies the resulting floor and ceiling prices for agricultural products. Based on the likely price effects in the food and energy markets, it assesses the impact of rising bioenergy production on food se-curity, differentiating between effects on the availability, access and stability of food supply.