"Rising world fuel prices, the growing demand for energy, and concerns about global warming are the key factors driving the increasing interest in renewable energy sources, and in biofuels in particular. But some policymakers and analysts have voiced concern that aggressive growth in biofuel...

The year 2011 highlighted ongoing challenges to global food security, from food price volatility, extreme weather shocks, and famine to unrest and conflicts. On the policy front, major devel­opments at the global and national levels both offered grounds for encouragement and pointed to areas...

IFPRI's 2011 Global Food Policy Report—the first in a new annual series—provides an in-depth, contextualized look at the past year's major food policy developments and events. It both raises and answers these key questions: What happened in food policy in 2011 and why? What challenges and...

The year 2011 highlighted ongoing challenges to global food security, from food price volatility, extreme weather shocks, and famine to unrest and conflicts. On the policy front, major devel­opments at the global and national levels both offered grounds for encouragement and pointed to areas...

Depuis 2007, deux séries successives d’envolée des prix des denrées alimentaires ont causé la faim ou la malnutrition pour des millions de personnes dans le monde. Les mêmes facteurs qui avaient contribué à la hausse des prix en 2007-2008 ont refait surface en 2011 et...

Biofuels provide a new opportunity to enhance economic development in Tanzania. Drawing on detailed cost estimates, we develop a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to estimate the impact of different biofuel production scenarios on growth and poverty. Our results indicate that...

There is rising skepticism about the potential positive environmental impacts of first generation biofuels. Growing biofuel crops could induce diversion of other crops dedicated to food and feed needs. The relocation of production could increase deforestation and bring significant new volumes of...

Peter Hazell.

"In the past several years the changing world energy situation has generated intensive discussion about biofuels, much of it promising a source of environment-friendly energy that would also be a boon to the world's farmers. At the same time skeptics argue that biofuel production will threaten...

"In recent years bioenergy... has drawn attention as a sustainable energy source that may help cope with rising energy prices, address environmental concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, and offer new income and employment to farmers and rural communities around the world. For many countries...