Bioenergy and Food Security Project

BEFS Knowledge Sharing

There are many different groups that have a stake in bioenergy development such as: government, farmers, the energy sector, investors and civil society. BEFS actively encourages dialogue amongst all of the different groups, organizes bioenergy and food security workshops and promotes knowledge exchange and cooperation.

BEFS has so far organised two global technical consultations that brought together many of the different groups to discuss key areas related to bioenergy and food security, as well as related themes, such as the environment, sustainability, agricultural markets and trade.

Technical consultations organised by BEFS in Rome so far are:

• First FAO Technical Consultation in April 2007
• Second FAO Technical Consultation in February 2008

The outcomes of the BEFS consultations were brought to the attention of the High-level Conference on Food Security, Climate Change and Bioenergy that took place in Rome in June 2008.

In each of the countries active in BEFS the findings are validated in a broad public consultation. The first Stakeholder Consultation took place in Dar es Salaam in February 2009 where BEFS findings for Tanzania were presented to the Government of Tanzania and other groups with a stake in bioenergy.