Rural Development

FAO/P. CeniniFAO/P. Cenini

Bioenergy can help rural development both by broadening access to modern energy and by creating new economic opportunities in rural areas. The impact on rural development will differ substantially depending upon whether bioenergy is produced for local consumption or export and on how feedstocks are produced. Sustainable pro-poor bioenergy development could represent an answer to the needs of the 1.6 billion people who lack access to electricity and could also improve the lives of 2.4 billion who rely on traditional biomass which is often inefficient and unhealthy.

Energy is an essential element both for the fulfilment of basic needs - especially cooking and heating, - and for sustainable rural development, including energy for agriculture, food processing and education. Modern bioenergy for heating and cooking may provide particular benefits to women, reducing their chores of fuelwood collection.

Potential economic opportunities in rural areas

Appropriate production, trade and use of modern bioenergy sources can contribute towards strengthening rural livelihoods by creating employment or alternative income sources for food insecure farmers, hence improving levels of food security.The production of bio-electricity, for instance, has the highest employment-creation potential among renewable energy options.The challenges for small scale farmers to participate in growing commercial bioenergy markets mirror those of agricultural cash crop markets. Investments in infrastructure, rural institutions and financial service provision are essential to overcome barriers. The social benefits of bioenergy production will depend widely on the feedstock, production system and institutional arrangements used.

However, attention should be given to labour rights and socio-economic conditions in large-scale biofuel plantations which can be precarious. Large-scale feedstock production for liquid biofuel production, like all large scale agricultural investments, can also put greater pressure on land, leading to the increase of land value while making lease or purchase of land unaffordable for the landless, especially women and indigenous people. Insecure land tenure arrangements could lead to the displacement of vulnerable households as large scale developments of biofuel production expand. Strengthening land tenure systems to avoid potential conflict over land rights is essential. Contract farming, whereby small farmers supply the feedstock to a biofuel processing plant through contractual arrangements, is an alternative implementation modality likely to reduce land conflicts and inadequate labour conditions.


Women and female-headed households might be particularly affected by the risks of the expansion of biofuel production and have, at the same time, less opportunities (compared to men) to engage in and benefit from its production. Some risks include the potential depletion or degradation of natural resources associated with large-scale plantations for biofuel production placing an additional burden on rural farmers’ work and health, in particular on female farmers. If biofuel production competes, either directly or indirectly, for water and firewood supplies, it could make such resources less readily available for household use. This would force women, who are traditionally responsible, in most developing countries, for collecting water and firewood, to travel longer distances thus reducing the time available to earn income from other sources, and hindering their food security. Regarding the opportunities, women might face more barriers to participating in biofuel feedstock production, due to their lack of access to land, credit, technology and markets.

FAO's Work

FAO is gathering lessons from small-scale bioenergy production schemes, based on case studies from Africa, Latin America and Asia. The study will focus on practical technical and institutional constraints faced by recent or ongoing experience, and will highlight recommendations for policy makers and practitioners.

FAO is also working to identify - collect and analyse data on - the potential gender-differentiated, socio-economic risks and opportunities of liquid biofuels production, particularly in terms of food security, at both the intra-household level (i.e. on both men and women) and at the inter-household level (i.e. on male- and female-headed households). FAO in addition is developing gender-based guidelines for sustainable bioenergy development. The objective of these guidelines, which aim at informing both research and the policy-making process, is to ensure that biofuel production is developed in an environmentally sustainable manner with a pro-poor approach, ensuring that women and female-headed households have equal opportunities as men to engage in and benefit from the sustainable production of liquid biofuels. 

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last updated: Friday, September 25, 2009