The consequences of the increased use of transport biofuels for food prices and food security (access to affordable, adequate food supplies) have been other major topics in the debate on biofuels. In 2007, the rapid expansion of biofuels production con­tributed to increased prices for cereals and oilseeds (OECD-FAO 2007; Renewable Fuels Agency 2008). This effect of the growth in transport biofuel production on food prices has not gone unnoticed in society. Late in 2006, the Chinese govern­ment halted the expansion of corn-based ethanol production (Koizumi and Ohga

2007) . At the beginning of 2007, Mexico was confronted by a tortilla crisis, includ­ing protests of poor people against rising prices for tortillas, which are made from corn. The Mexican government was forced to change its fiscal policy. Argentina, which has substantial soybean-based biodiesel production, raised its export taxes on soybeans by 4% to provide subsidies to lower the cost of soybean flour to live­stock producers (OECD-FAO 2007), which in turn sparked angry farmer protests. In December 2007, the government of South Africa banned growing corn for bio­fuel to counteract price rises. 2008 saw widespread food rioting in Asia, Africa and South America. Several predictions suggest that a further rapid expansion of trans­port biofuel production will lead to (further) rises in food prices (Naylor et al. 2007; Eickhout et al. 2008) and that these rises may lead to an increased insufficiency of food for the world’s poorest people that currently spend 50-80% of their total household income on food (Naylor et al. 2007; Runge and Senauer 2007; Daschle et al. 2007; Renewable Fuels Agency 2008). This has led to a coining of the slogan ‘transport biofuels for the rich and hunger for the poor’.