AGROFUELS: Mozambique, EU & Brazil

Brazil will benefit from preferential tariffs for African countries to export biofuels in the EU.
EU will take advantage of the expertise of Brazil to strengthen its supply.
People in Mozambique will lose more arable land and deal with land disputes once more. 63% of the population is rural and the FAO classifies half of it in "rural poor".

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July 14, 2010, at the 4th EU-Brazil summit, held in Brasilia, the presidents of the European Commission and European Council, José Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy and their colleague Lula da Silva launched a partnership agreement with Mozambique to develop agroethanol and agrodiesel projects.

Under the agreement, the EU and Brazil will start studies on how best to develop bioethanol, biodiesel and bioelectricity projects in Mozambique, which has become a leading African biofuels producer in recent years. "This agreement will be part of the EU and Brazil's wider cooperation with Africa, which we hope will eventually lead to an agreement with the Africa Union," an EU official said.

Unlike Brazilian bioethanol, which is subject to high import tariffs at EU borders, African-produced biofuel would be subject to minimal tariffs.

New production bases in Africa could benefit Brazilian biofuel producers such as Cosan and ethanol and sugarcane group Copersucar, Brazilian diplomats said. (Source: Reuters, July 12, 2010)

In a press release, Friends of the Earth reports: "The expansion of biofuels in Mozambique has been widely criticized because it monopolizes fertile land, offers poor working conditions for local workers and causes of land conflicts with local populations. These are principally Europeans investing in agrofuels and requests the right to use land cover over 4.8 million hectares in Mozambique, almost a seven hectare of arable land available in the country."