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Energy Challenges: Threats or Opportunities?

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Family Farming and the Worlds to Come

Abstract

Intertwined with agricultural issues and closely linked to the challenges of poverty discussed in Chap. 10, the production of and access to energy are major issues for the growth of the South and for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. They are among the foremost prerequisites for economic and human development (Sachs 2005). In the agricultural and agrifood domain, energy remains a key factor for improving the production, harvesting, storage, processing and marketing of agricultural products (FAO 2000). Access to energy in rural areas is, in general, synonymous with improving the conditions of life and the diversification of income generating activities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The main biomass sources are: jatropha and sugarcane in Africa; palm oil, sugarcane, maize, cassava, wheat in Asia – with specializations by country such as maize in China (which has recently diversified into cassava in particular), cassava in Thailand or palm oil in Indonesia; and sugarcane, maize, palm oil, soybeans, and other oilseeds in South America.

  2. 2.

    Salaried employees are sometimes hired for labor-intensive tasks, such as soil preparation and harvesting.

  3. 3.

    Sometimes independent operators or service providers make available mechanized services such as plowing, harvesting and transportation to the family farms.

  4. 4.

    The energy content of nitrogen fertilizers (called embodied energy), due to a very energy-intensive manufacturing process, is particularly high.

  5. 5.

    <http://bioenergelec.org/>.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ES, Cirad, Montpellier, France

    Marie-Hélène Dabat & Laurent Gazull

  2. ES, Cirad, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

    Denis Gautier

  3. Persyst, Cirad, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

    François Pinta

Authors
  1. Marie-Hélène Dabat
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  2. Denis Gautier
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  3. Laurent Gazull
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  4. François Pinta
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Correspondence to Marie-Hélène Dabat .

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  1. CIRAD, Paris, France

    Jean-Michel Sourisseau

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Dabat, MH., Gautier, D., Gazull, L., Pinta, F. (2015). Energy Challenges: Threats or Opportunities?. In: Sourisseau, JM. (eds) Family Farming and the Worlds to Come. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9358-2_11

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