johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services-3f8829e4faf80871.pdf

This policy brief examines the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of sugarcane and jatropha biofuel production in Malawi, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Using an ecosystem services framework, the study analyzes trade-offs between biofuel feedstock production and other services like food security, carbon sequestration, and poverty alleviation, while also exploring the feasibility of ethanol for household cooking in urban Mozambique.

• The impact of biofuel crop production on ecosystem services depends on the crop type, scale of production, and original land use. In Malawi and Swaziland, converting agricultural land and degraded woodland to large sugarcane plantations resulted in carbon stock gains. Conversely, converting savanna woodland to a large jatropha plantation in Mozambique led to a substantial decline in carbon stocks.
• Sugarcane production generally correlates with improved food security and lower multidimensional poverty for both plantation workers and smallholders in Malawi and Swaziland, compared to control groups not involved in the sector.
• Jatropha production has provided limited and precarious benefits. While plantation workers in Mozambique showed some improvements in food security and poverty levels, smallholder jatropha growers in Malawi saw no statistically significant differences in food security or poverty compared to non-growers, partly due to low achieved yields.
• Smallholder jatropha cultivation in Malawi, where crops are grown as hedges, can displace agricultural land and reduce the area of an average farm by 7% if a 500-tree hedge is planted, potentially impacting food production.
• Despite being located in areas with energy-related projects, nearly all study groups across all sites experienced deprivation regarding access to clean cooking fuels and electricity.
• In Maputo, Mozambique, ethanol stoves require significantly less land for fuel production than biomass stoves. However, high costs—driven in part by government value added tax—and the preference for charcoal for main meals have hindered adoption. Ethanol prices in Maputo ranged from 12.05 to 16.43 USD/MJ, compared to 4.28 to 8.28 USD/MJ for charcoal.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services-3f8829e4faf80871.pdf. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services-3f8829e4faf80871.pdf. n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services-3f8829e4faf80871.pdf |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendjohnsonetalbiofuelecosservices3f8829e4faf80871pdf, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services-3f8829e4faf80871.pdf}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/johnson-et-al-biofuel-ecos-services.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }