Abstract

GIRALDO RAMIREZ, Diana Patricia; ARANGO ARAMBURO, Santiago  and  MARTINEZ JARAMILLO, Juan Esteban. Impacts of Biofuels on Food Security in Colombia: a System Thinking Approach. Rev. Fac. Nac. Agron. Medellín [online]. 2014, vol.67, n.2, pp.7375-7385. ISSN 0304-2847.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rfnam.v67n2.44180.

Biofuels are turning an increasingly important alternative for countries, both for agricultural policies and diversification of its energy portfolio. Due to its nature and interrelationship with critical factors such as land and water, there is a need to study and understand how public policies and development of biomass markets can affect Food Security. This paper takes a systemic view on the relationships between biofuels and Food Security. The selected case study is Colombia, because of its current incentives for biodiesel and bioethanol, regulation on prices and subsidies to producers. The study was done through causal models that propose the relationships of interdependence between the main variables of these systems. The analysis shows how the incentives to biofuel production can generate a decrease in food production, threatening Food Security. The analysis leads to the need to build simulation models to quantify and evaluate the effects of current policies over time.

Keywords : Agricultural policies; biomass; sustainable energy; system dynamics.

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