This report focusses on understanding how access to energy is a key factor affecting the magnitude of food lost in developing countries. It identifies the main stages of the food value chain where increasing access to energy can play a dominant role in reducing food [...]

The world’s agri-food supply chains are being challenged. For several decades, the production, processing and distribution of food have been highly dependent on fossil fuel inputs (the exception being subsistence farmers who use only manual labor and perhaps animal power [...]

The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) has produced a set of twenty-four indicators for the assessment and monitoring of bioenergy sustainability at the national level. The GBEP indicators are intended to inform policymakers about the environmental, social and economic sustainability aspects [...]

Due to global transformational trends, such as population growth, economic development and climate change, energy, water, land and human resources are increasingly under pressure to support societal development and to maintain necessary services. Decisionmakers need improved tools in order to [...]

Bioenergy when managed sustainably and efficiently can be an alternative energy source that helps reduce energy access problems. Rural and urban communities can benefit from increased access to energy, and therefore improved food security when bioenergy feedstock is produced guided [...]

This report presents the results of the application of an integrated analysis approach, the Multi-Scale Integrated Assessment of Society and Ecosystem Metabolism (hereafter MuSIASEM), to three case studies: (i) An analysis of the option to produce biofuel from sugarcane in the Republic of [...]

The aim of this paper is to discuss how the entire food sector, from the farmer’s fi eld to the consumer’s plate, can become more ‘energy-smart’. Becoming energy-smart will require a transformation along the food chain that involves: - relying [...]

This paper presents FAO’s work on energy in relation to specific components of the agrifood chain. It complements two recent publications, Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate Issues Paper and the policy brief, Making the Case for Energy-Smart Food. These [...]

An interdisciplinary ‘nexus’ approach is necessary to ensure that food, energy and climate are jointly addressed, trade-offs considered, and appropriate safeguards are put in place. These issues will not be addressed through a single initiative. Because of its importance, scope [...]

This report is based on a series of 15 international case studies conducted betweenSeptember and November 2008 under a joint initiative of FAO and the PISCES EnergyResearch Programme Consortium funded by DFID. The case studies focussed ondeveloping an improved understanding [...]