UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Major Groups

Submitting organization:

Affiliation:	- Non-governmental organization

Initiative Title:	Farming for Energy, for Better Livelihoods in Southern Africa (FELISA)

Internet links:

Scope:	Regional: - Africa

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	SADC

Stakeholders/Partners:	SADC, Southern African states and energy consumers, Southern African biodiesel farmers

Relevent issues:

Objectives/Challenges:

• Produce cleaner, renewable energy
• Reduce carbon emissions
• Provide for domestic energy needs of African countries
• Provide employment to rural labourers
• Boost rural economies of African countries
• Produce fertilizer
• Generate income for African farmers
• Increase food security of African countries
• Generate export opportunities for African countries

Policy Options:

• Focus on production, use and marketing of bioenergy and biodiesel
• Increase production of crops that can be used for biodiesel

Summary:

Farming for Energy, for Better Livelihoods in Southern Africa (FELISA) is both a concept and a project that promotes the use and production of bioenergy, particularly biodiesel. With FELISA, it is projected that countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) can satisfy their energy needs, hence making them less dependant on external vagaries of the exchange market, by allocating less than 10% of their cropland to energy crops.

Oil palm, at four tones per acre, has the highest productivity and is therefore the crop of choice. The cake that remains after oil extraction is fermented for compost. During composting, biogas is produced, which can be used for cooking, heating or for electricity production. The compost is reintroduced in the plantation, allowing recovery of nutritional elements. Crop production can potentially employ millions of labourers, and boost the rural economies. The income generated will provide access to fertilizer, contribute to food security, and support opportunities for export. With an increase of 100 million hectares, the SADC countries can provide 10 percent of the world’s biodiesel in the future, amounting to $100 billion in the market.