Biofuels Adoption In Nigeria: Attaining An Equilibrium In The Food, Fuel, Feed And Fiber Objectives Nelson Abila
Outline of Presentation Preview Introduction Energy Concerns for Nigeria Making biofuels sustainable in Nigeria Current realities of the Four Objectives Resource constraints for attaining the Four Objectives Conclusion University of Vaasa 2
Preview Nigeria is faced with the pursuit of many objectives Key among the objectives is the promotion of the production, processing and utilization of biofuels. The Biofuel objective led to the setting of the biofuel targets E10% and BD10 % for transport fuels by 2015 Crops already profiled as preferred sources of feedstock for the primary biofuels production are also crucial for food, feed and fibre. The emerging scenario necessitate the need to investigate the pros and cons in biofuels adoption in Nigeria vis-à-vis the attainment of a balance in the food, fuel, feed and fibre objectives of the Federal, State, and Local Governments University of Vaasa 3
Introduction Energy is a critical factor in the pursuit of economic growth and development objectives. The inadequate access and supply concern constitute key obstacle in the pursuit of development objective in Nigeria. Amidst the energy concern is the well known fact that Nigeria is endowed with the conventional energy resources such as petroleum, coals and natural gas. The harnessing of the conventional energy resources has not yielded much in terms of economic development. Harnessing the resource endowments for renewable energy generation provides further opportunities for socio-economic development. University of Vaasa 4
Energy Concerns for Nigeria The insecurity of supply of petroleum products. Dependence on foreign supply of refined products. Ever increasing price and the inflation implications. Petroleum subsidies and the burden on revenue. Inefficiency of distribution Infrastructure for fossil fuels. Declining revenue from oil. Under utilization of natural gas. High costs to firms and individuals private electricity generation. Climate Change, & others University of Vaasa 5
The Balloon Metaphor The balloon needs to soar, for it must sustain over 160 million people, Is biofuel a way out? University of Vaasa 6
Making biofuels sustainable in Nigeria Biofuels adoption, promotion and utilization do not necessarily and should not be about trade-offs between fuel, food, fibre, feed, ecosystem preservation or biodiversity conservation. The longstanding use of the primary biofuels attest to the possibility of sustainable biofuel use. The scientific arguments for sustainability environmental, technological, political, social and economic are no longer about if biofuels are acceptable but on how to guarantee and stabilize gains from the adoption of biofuels. Further goal include maximizing biofuels output per investment in feedstocks, processing technologies and distribution channels; optimizing natural resource use in a biofuels revolution; minimize environmental impacts and develop efficient frameworks for meeting biofuels targets University of Vaasa 7
Current realities of the Four Objectives For several decades Nigeria has been a net importer of processed and unprocessed foods. The value of Nigeria s top twenty agricultural commodity import stood at $3.7billion for 2009. This is an indication of the inability to meet consumption of key staples from domestic production. An analysis of the global food situation indicated a not obvious change in the food consumption pattern in Nigeria from 1990 to 2005 unlike in other developing economies where a high demand for high valued food products such as meat, milk, fish, fruits and vegetables has witnessed marked increased (von Braun, 2007). Nigeria continues to struggle with the food crisis, chief among which is high inflation on food prices. There is also the existence of crisis relating to the feed, fuel and fibre objectives. University of Vaasa 8
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 5 decade trend in cotton production Nigeria 250000 200000 150000 100000 Nigeria 50000 0 University of Vaasa 9
Resource constraints for attaining the Four Objectives The four objectives are natural and human resources dependent. The food, fuel (biofuel), feed and fibre are agriculture related and require access to land, labour, water for their production. Nigeria is ranked among nations having the resources critical for a nation to qualify for having the potential for biofuel production water resources and availability of arable land (von Braun, 2007). Nigeria s main top crops are produced utilizing only 42.9 percent of the total agricultural land area of the country. The irrigated land resource of the country is also underutilized as the nation is yet to harness the full capacity of the installed dam and irrigation facilities. Though the urban population has been steadily on the increase in Nigeria, the agricultural population has been relatively stable in the last decade. University of Vaasa 10
Global Biofuels Potentials Von Braun, Joachim (2007) Nigeria The availability of arable land The availability of water and The level of current food insecurity of the country University of Vaasa 11
Arable land utilization between 2000 and 2009 University of Vaasa 12
Designing a conceptual Integration Path between biofuels and food, fuel, feed and fibre Biofuels Fuel, Residues & Fertilizer, wastes Fuel Fuel, Fertilizer, Fuel, Fertilizer, Fuel, Fertilizer, Food Fuel Feed Fibre Hide Meat University of Vaasa 13
Conclusion This paper attempts a preliminary assessment of the pros and cons in the pursuits of the multiple and competing objectives of food, fuel, feed and fibre as Nigeria promotes biofuel development and adoption. The current agricultural production indicates the existence of room for increasing productivity. There is need for policy interventions to ensure a balance in the attainment of the objectives. Policy interventions should be tailored towards the stimulation of small and medium scale holder farms to attain balance in production of at least two objectives. The allotment of catchment areas for the production of various objectives crops is also recommended. University of Vaasa 14
Thank you for listening. Nelson Abila Doctoral Student Department of Production, University of Vaasa, Finland. Email: nelson.abila@uwasa.fi Tel: +358-44-3177-440 The doctoral study is supported by The Fortum Foundation University of Vaasa 15