Technical Consultation: How to make integrated food-energy systems work for both small-scale farmers and rural communities in a climate change-friendly way

Held at FAO Headquarters in Rome, on 14-15 July 2010, this technical consultation sought to identify knowledge gaps and factors leading to the success or failure of Integrated Food-Energy Systems (IFES), on the basis of practical lessons learned from field experience.

The consultation had two specific objectives:

• To share experience on successes and challenges experienced by participants in the design, implementation and replication of IFES systems.
• To agree on next steps to ensure that the findings of the Technical Consultation can serve as a solid basis for a programme to promote worthwhile IFES.

Presentations

• How to make IFES work and benefit small-scale farmers and rural communities: Lessons learned and ways forward
  A. Bogdanski, O. Dubois, C. Jamieson and R. Krell, FAO
• The Castor Bean Brazilian Project: Challenges and Opportunities
  Aldara César, Federal University of São Carlos, Production Engineer Department, Agro Industry Research Study Group
• Agroforestery in Costa Rica
  Abigail Fallot, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD) and El Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE)
• Corn Ethanol with Food Co-Production
  Craig Jamieson, Next Generation, UK
• Thusanang Community Project
  Sanette Marx, South Africa's National Energy Research Institute (SANERI)
• Anaerobic pathways to renewable energies and carbon sinks
  Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering
• Production and local use of hydrated ethanol to promote energy self-sufficiency, agricultural development and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean
  Rural Social Bio-refineries - RUSBI
• Food, energy and employment in a carbon-negative farming system: experiences from México, Vietnam, Cambodia and Colombia
  Reg Preston and Lylian Rodríguez, The University of Tropical Agriculture Foundation (UTA)
• Meeting the Demands of Food, Feed and Energy by Sweet Sorghum
  Shi-Zhong Li, US-Sino Joint Center for Biofuel Research Institute of New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, China
• VAC integrated system with entire Energy chain in Vietnam
  Mr. Pham Van Thanh, Center for Community Research and Development (CCRD)
• Experiences in the production and use of alternative energy sources at the farm level in Colombia
  - Part 2
  Antonio Solarte, Fundación Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria  (CIPAV)