Despite some of the problems associated with large scale bioenergy production such as security of tenure, food security and environmental concerns, bioenergy has the potential to generate more income and employment than any other type of fuel. The higher levels of employment generated by bioenergy are a result of the relatively small size of production facilities and the large volumes of material used to produce each unit of energy output (Cushion et al. 2010). Human well-being depends, however, on more than income but includes availability of food, access to energy for cooking, shelter and heating, health care and cultural components such as political rights, education communication, transport and material comfort (Buchholz et al. 2007).

Maintaining and improving human well-being is the moral foundation of most societies. The creation of wealth in terms of products and services has a nearly one to one relationship with the use of energy per capita but when energy generation impacts negatively on human well-being the role of energy supply for wealth creation and sustainable development can be questioned (Buchholz et al. 2007). The risks of negatively affecting human well-being in bioenergy production systems can be addressed through innovative business ventures between rural producers and biofuel companies that empower rural producers of biomass and include them as equal business partners in bioenergy ventures (Ham and Thomas 2008). Such a strategy will depend on the risks associated with the production of biofuel crops, role of rural producers in relation to bioenergy companies and institutional support.