There is a common perception that developing countries have vast areas of available land. It is for instance estimated that there are about 800 million hectares of cultivable land across Africa of which less than a quarter appears to be used. Land prices in developing countries are in many places very low compared to developed countries and where the host country is supportive, land can be acquired on favourable terms. Such cheap access to land and cheap labour for biofuel development can be seen as a good business opportunity for foreign companies and has given rise to so called “land grabs” (Friends of the Earth 2010).

“Land grabs,” where land traditionally used by local communities is leased or sold to outside investors, are becoming increasingly common. The International Food Policy Research Institute (Headey et al. 2009, ex Friends of the Earth 2010) estimated that globally 20 million hectares of land have been sold since 2006 of which 9 million hectares were in Africa. Almost 5 million hectares are reportedly intended for biofuels, including Jatropha, oil palm and sweet sorghum.

International companies are keen to emphasise the benefits of these land deals to local communities in terms of job creation and economic development. A study by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) (Cotula et al. 2009, ex Friends of the Earth 2010) has, however, found that in Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar and Mali all biomass grown for biofuels will be exported with minimal direct benefit to the countries involved.

Rising demand for bioenergy has led to rapid expansion of large scale biofuel plantations (Cushion et al. 2010). Oil palm plantations have become the fastest growing monoculture in the tropics and have increased from 6.5 million hectares in 1997 to 14 million hectares in 2007 (Gerber 2011). The largest oil palm plantations are found in Malaysia and Indonesia with 4 and 6 million hectares, respectively, under oil palm cultivation (Tauli-Corpuz and Tamang 2007). The majority of oil palm plantations are located on land that was once tropical forest. The relationship between oil palm plantations and deforestation is debatable as it is unclear how much deforestation was caused by direct clearing for oil palm plantations or how much oil palm expansion occurred on land already deforested and degraded as a result of other factors (Gerber 2011).

The growth of biofuel from oil palm has resulted in economic benefits to national governments and companies involved but they come with serious social and environmental costs which adversely affect local people dependent on tropical forests for their livelihoods (Tauli-Corpuz and Tamang 2007). In Indonesia for instance, there is a lack of clarity of ownership over forested land, leading to widespread disagreements over land tenure. Land disputes with local communities were reported by more than 80 palm oil plantation companies in Sumatra in 2000. Large plantation areas have been cleared without adequate resettlement provisions for displaced communities (Cushion et al. 2010) and communities are deprived of common areas used for biomass collection and subsistence agricultural activities. These displaced community members become landless peasants, experience the decay of indigenous culture and are forced to engage in seasonal or long term migration to urban areas in search of employment (Gerber 2011).

Supporters of biofuel plantations often argue that bioenergy plantations are established on marginal, unused or degraded lands. Land that appears degraded or “idle” to outsiders often serves a vital function for communities as common grazing land or land to collect firewood (Friends of the Earth 2010). These areas are often managed under communal traditional laws for subsistence as well as for cultural and religious practices and local livelihoods evolved around the use of products from these areas (Friends of the Earth 2005). As a rule the more marginal their livelihoods are, the more likely rural people will depend on common, open areas for their day-to-day struggle for survival. The land will yield fuel, food, medicine and building materials to people who do not have the means to obtain similar products or services in the formal economy (Van der Horst and Vermeylen 2011). The question remains, why do local communities protest when this unused or degraded land is converted to what some perceive to be more productive land use? (Friends of the Earth 2005).

Given ambitious global targets for biofuel production it can be questioned if biofuel crops can be grown only on unused or degraded land or if it will take land out of agriculture and forestry (Cushion et al. 2009). Large changes in land use may occur as a result of biofuel production. Global estimates for the amount of land required for future biofuel production range from 118 to 508 million hectares or 36 % of the current arable land by 2030 (Ravindranath et al. 2009, ex UNEP 2012).