Spain and Senegal to cooperate on biofuels as way to curb illegal migration

The regional council of Tenerife and the government of Senegal will sign [*French] a collaboration protocol in December to advance the production of biofuels in the African country. The initiative is part of an attempt to alleviate poverty in the rural areas of Senegal, and thus to help reduce migration flows. Tenerife is a major arrival point for clandestine migrants from the country.

In light of the technology and knowledge transfer accord, the island of Tenerife is committed to establishing a laboratory in Senegal that will develop oil-bearing plants adapted to the region and that can be used for the production of biodiesel. A team of Senegalese scientists and technicians will be invited to study in Tenerife to acquire the skills needed to manage research projects on in vitro plant breeding and to run the lab.

Revitalizing the land
The project is part of the Spanish authorities' program to help the Senegalese government to establish agricultural and livestock projects that can prevent rural populations from migrating. Being labor-intensive, bioenergy projects generate employment and wealth amongst rural communities. This ensures the push-factors leading to migration are tackled at the very source. Biofuels can contribute to relieving two waves typical of this exodus: poverty-driven internal migration from rural areas to the cities, and the poverty encountered there by unskilled workers who then decide to migrate further, to the EU.

Biofuels offer farmers a historic opportunity to strengthen their livelihoods and to revitalize rural economies, whereas jobs in non-farming sectors - in biomass logistics, science, technology and trade - become available as well. Between 70 and 80% of the Senegalese labor population is currently employed in agriculture (map, here). Its reliance on commodities like cotton have pushed millions into poverty, with subsidies and trade barriers in the U.S. and the EU taking much of the blame. Biofuels allow farmers to diversify their crops and to enter a new, global market. Demand for the green fuels is expected to keep growing over the coming decades, and a country like Senegal can tap its comparative advantages: abundant land, labor and suitable agroclimatic conditions for a range of efficient energy crops.

Curbing migration
Tenerife and other Canary islands are part of a major migration route from Africa to Europe. Last year, the Canaries received around 30,000 clandestine migrants from Senegal - itself a major transit hub attracting people from across West-Africa. Each year, thousands of them die making the treacherous trip in the Atlantic.

Both the EU and the president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, have placed the biofuels opportunity within the context of reducing these pressures:
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: technology transfer :: poverty alleviation :: rural development :: migration :: Spain :: Senegal ::
The country's president is one of the staunchest advocates of utilising biofuels as a way to secure jobs on the continent and thus to reduce emigration flows. Earlier Wade announced the formation of a 'Green OPEC' of sorts, the PANPP (Pays Africains Non Producteurs de Pétrole) (earlier post), while hinting at the potential of a biofuels industry to bring wealth to the rural parts of the country.

Stressting the urgency of a switch to biofuels Wade's administration meanwhile put its money where its mouth is, by launching a first biofuel production plan based on the cultivation of jatropha, of which 250 million seedlings were distributed amongst rural families.

The effort is part of a series of programs aimed at revitalising the farming sector: a large project called 'REVA' (Retour vers l'agriculture), with a segment called 'Retour des Immigrés Vers L'Agriculture' (Return of the Migrants to Agriculture) (previous post). Biofuels play an important role in REVA, and EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Michel has hinted that the EU might put funds into the scheme.

Recently, the new chief of Senegal's Agronomic Research Institute (ISRA) outlined its biofuel strategy, explaining the great chances biofuels offer Senegal. He pointed to developing crops like tabanani (jatropha) and ricin (castor beans), initiatives to restore the environment and bring degraded lands back into culture by drought-tolerant crops like ricin, the acquisition of basic technologies, the development of dedicated policies, knowledge banks and extension services, and the creation of credit lines for farmers.

The role of the ISRA will consist of pursueing tech and knowledge transfers (from, amongst others, Brazil), but especially the education of the vast rural population that will need to acquire the basic skills needed to grow feedstocks. The Brazilian model of the Pro-Biodiesel program - which works with smallholders and is explicitly aimed alleviating poverty - is taken as the example to follow (previous post).

Most recently, Senegal and Brazil signed a biofuel cooperation agreement aimed specifically at strengthening Senegalese human resources in the bioenergy sector and at transferring technologies. Brazil's president Lula stressed his country's willingness to share its world leading biodiesel and ethanol expertise with the countries of the 'Green OPEC': "Under the leadership of Senegal, we want to extend this initiative to other non-oil producing African countries." Lula stressed the initiative is part of a larger South-South strategy on biofuels that will eventually involve NEPAD.

References:
Rewmi - l'Actualité sur le Sénégal: L'Espagne aidera le Sénégal à produire du biocarburant - August 24, 2007.

BBC: Key facts: Africa to Europe migration - July 2, 2007.

Biopact: Senegal and Brazil sign biofuel agreement to make Africa a major supplier - May 17, 2007

Biopact: Senegal's Agronomic Research Institute outlines biofuel strategy - June 13, 2007

Biopact: Senegal in the spotlight: cooperation with Brazil, EU on bioenergy and migration - October 27, 2006