A very interesting presentation at our Farm Foundation Global Trade and Policy Issues conference had to do with the impact on poverty. Tom Hertel, Purdue University, was our presenter.

He says they conducted an international study of 16 developing countries and the impact of biofuels production on the poverty level. As he puts it, it’s a very complex issue. Most people he says think that just because food is scarce in low income countries that biofuels production from feedstocks would contribute to poverty but in fact, the opposite is true in some parts of the world like southeast Asia. However, in other parts of the world where the low income population is mostly urban, like South America, the opposite is true.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/ff-global-09-hertel.mp3]

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album