Biofuels from plants that can be grown on poor soil with little water offer an opportunity for poor rural people to increase their incomes and meet their energy needs. But the speed and scale of biofuel expansion is threatening to increase competition for agricultural land. This, in turn, is putting new pressure on land tenure arrangements.

There have already been documented cases of indigenous peoples losing land and access to forests that have been converted to biofuel production. A considerable amount of agricultural land in developing countries is of low quality, better suited to growing biofuels than food crops. Poor people, who often farm under difficult conditions in remote and fragile areas and generally have little negotiating power, may be tempted to sell their land at low prices. Where their land is owned by the state, it may be allocated to large outside investors.

Appropriate policies are needed on developing and integrating biofuels into a broader strategy that protects the land rights of poor and disadvantaged people. Community-investor partnerships also need to be explored, such as outgrower schemes in which rural communities do not relinquish their land rights.