KENYA BIOFUEL PRODUCTION

A recent article in Afrol News reports that the implementation of plans to grow biofuel crops in Kenya's Tana River Delta could be illegal since the government study grossly inflated the economic benefits of the program without fully assessing the initiatives environmental impact. The scheme, proposed by Mumias Sugar Company in February 2008, has prompted outrage among local people, conservationists and farmers. The Kenyan government will now convene three-day public hearings, beginning on Tuesday 6th May. The world is faced with a severe food supply crisis partly because millions of hectares of land are use to grow biofuel crops. Are biofuels the appropriate long-term alternative?