Does biofuel really benefit Tanzania?

The global demand for biofuels has risen over the last decade. The demand driven by oil prices rising and therefore a need for greater energy security has caused a shift in paradigm. The search for alternative sources to supplement the uncertainty is now the main focus. The result of this uncertainty has triggered the investment on alternative sources of energy such as biofuels. This has prompted huge land grabbing in Africa, the scramble is on the rise. In Tanzania for example, four million hectares of land has been requested for biofuel production and this is likely to pose a real threat to food security.

The Global Change Course Students of 2010 (Action aid Tanzania) made a field research in the Kisarawe and Rufiji districts where a huge chunk of land has been grabbed by biofuel investors for producing biofuel. The Global Change group held future workshops where people were given an opportunity to state the problems they might face. The personal stories we did with the farmers and some of the investors were conducted in order to get a clearer picture of the situation. The group also stayed and spent nights with the local households (host families) in Nyamwage village (Rufiji), where the group got an opportunity to visit biofuel investors both in the Kisarawe and Rufiji districts. Here we talked to Sun biofuel, Safe production Ltd and African Green Oils Ltd.

The process of land acquisition was not clear and the villagers were not involved in land acquisition process. The government officials (TIC, Disstrict Officers, and some members of the Parliament) trick the villagers to make imprecise decision to let go off their land. The land that is the only source of income for the farmers.

During the land acquisition process, villagers were not aware of their land rights, the value of the land or the future consequences. One farmer told us during our dialogue meetings “Tulikariribishwa Kwenye mkutano uliojaa maneno matamu na kila ahadi nzuri,WalituTulikariribishwa Kwenye mkutano uliojaa maneno matamu na kila ahadi nzuri,Walituandalia chakula kizuri sana ambacho baadhi yetu hatukuwahi kula Na wakatupa na andalia chakula kizuri sana ambacho baadhi yetu hatukuwahi kula Na wakatupa na napesa kila mmoja shs 1000”. The effects of biofuels investments to the livelihoods of the poor people in rural areas has reached immediate and underlying negative impacts ranging from economical, social, environmental and cultural.

Insufficient attention is being paid to the lack of actions on social protection and nutrition for the poorest. The food security and nutrition of the poor which was already compromised by the world food crisis is now severely jeopardized, which is characterized by high food prices that leads the poor to limit their food consumption.

The communities have been displaced from the areas where they were cultivating and some of them have been forced to vacate their farms and land. Before cultivating the already existing crops and trees were not compensated at all.

There are so many conflicts between the communities and biofuel companies, rising from denied access to water points located in the project area formerly used by the communities. Some were destroyed during the clearing of the land for project activities especially the wells in the villages of Kisarawe district.

The establishment of the plantations has had a high environmental impact, ranging from deforestation and water depletion. The local people can no longer obtain a large number of building products and resources from the forest which appeared as a result of plantations. However the most serious negative environmental impact of the biofuel production in particularly the indirect land use as more carbon emissions will be released as forests and pristine land is converted from cropland to biofuel production. The appropriation of farmers land by biofuel companies is causing problems for the local people, because they do not have formal ownership of land and hereby the community members can not precisely know how their tomorrow will be. This is because the land they are settled on is being claimed by biofuel investors and the land is leased in the hands of the investors for 99 year.

Even worse the people’s cultural aspects were undermined as they were denied access to their ancestral burial grounds. In some cases, graves were demolished as the land was given to investors and this was evidenced in Nyamwage village in the Rufiji district.

Unfavorable working conditions are also some of the consequences that we have seen from the biofuel production. Long working hours from 6:00am-6:30pm where people are underpaid (2500shs per day). Lunch and breakfast is also not provided. There is no job contract, no protective jeers like gambtosh and people are denied of payment in case of any complaint.

The land including natural resources such as forests has been providing a safety net for the victims of social changes, displacement, unemployment and lost opportunities in the urban areas. This loss has increased the vulnerability of the communities so they do not have control over their lives.

According to our research findings, the biofuel companies have not been able to live up to the promises they made. Local people are facing serious consequences such as waiting for schools, hospitals, roads, wells, boreholes and community centers as they were promised by the investment companies during land acquisition.

In a nutshell, the farmers must be educated on the matters regarding land issues. The framework must be clear. There must be a clear definition of what marginal land is and which land is available for investment. During our research this was not clear to any of the involving parties. As one of the investors said “The land we got was no man’s”. If we have to be sincere, fertile land was allocated to biofuels investors in disguise of the so called marginal land, something which is contrary to Tanzania Biofuel Task force guidelines. The parties concerned in the allocation of land to biofuels investments, should think about the poor people who’s land is their only resource and avoid situations were native people might become evicted from their ancestral lands in future, and the land of which their great grand fathers fought for under MAJI-MAJI rebellion.

In summary, the biofuel investment in northern Tanzania can be summarized into two words, oppressive and exploitation of the Tanzanian peoples land. That is why there should be a policy of biofuel investments in Tanzania that ensures food security.