Land Grabbing for Biofuel Production: Implication on Small Scale Farmers Livelihood and Food Sovereignty in Ghana

Martha Amoako

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

Biofuel production drives land acquisition in Africa. This issue has come under the spotlight recently. Ghana is a case in point. Large-scale of lands are mostly taken by multinational companies and individual investors for biofuel production. Foreign companies have acquired a total of 769,000 hectares of land. These companies mostly from the developed countries such as Galten Global Alternative Energy (Israel, Jatropha Africa (UK), Biofuel Africa (Norway), ScanFuel (Norway) and Kimminic Corporation (Canada) utilise the land for biofuel production. Ghana has 3.99 million hectares of arable land and 2,075,000 hectares of permanent culture. This suggests that more than 37 per cent of arable land in Ghana is used for the cultivation of jatropha.Using a case study approach, this study explores the implication of land use changes for biofuel production on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the consequent impact on food security in Ghana. The research sampled - using interviews and focus group discussion - 220 people in the Pru District in the Brong-Ahafo Region in Ghana. The Pru District hosts biofuel production. This research study reveals that "land grabbing" for any purpose like growing biofuels brings negative livelihood changes on rural communities by reducing household income that small-scale farmers get from food crop production and the consequent effect on reduced food production. This in turn increases the risks of food insecurity.

Keywords

Biofuel, Food Security, Jatropha, Land Grabbing, Livelihood, Land Use and Sustainable Productivity

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 24. 4. 2017

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedoucí: Ing. Vratislava Janovská, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Adéla Stanislavová, Ing.

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta životního prostředí

Magisterský studijní program / obor:
Krajinné inženýrství / Land and Water Management