Good Practices in Bioenergy Feedstock Production

Dear bioenergy producer,

We’re writing to seek your participation in a new BEFSCI[1] initiative to catalogue and highlight ‘good practices’ in bioenergy feedstock production around the world. We welcome inputs from producers who are growing any feedstock with bioenergy potential, even those not necessarily involved in the final bioenergy processing. The goal of this initiative is to showcase on the FAO BEFSCI web site (http://www.fao.org/bioenergy/foodsecurity/befsci/en/) innovative examples of how bioenergy producers—from crop cultivation to energy processing— are implementing sustainable practices, to serve as a way to inspire and build on this knowledge and experience with other producers, and provide concrete examples of how specific practices can be implemented in financially viable projects.

Given the range of sustainability certification schemes for feedstocks for bioenergy, national regulations, and international financing requirements, many producers are already implementing sustainability practices into their production. We’d like to hear about how you are incorporating practices into your bioenergy production that exceed the aforementioned regulations and requirements, how and why you’ve done it, the benefits that you have achieved, and the challenges you have faced. We have asked for information specifically on good socioeconomic practices as there has been substantial work already conducted by FAO and BEFSCI in the area of good agricultural practices aimed at reducing environmental risks and natural resource exploitation.

We welcome inputs on any of the socioeconomic areas included and invite you to elaborate on areas where your company may be particularly active.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding this initiative. Our email address is: . We look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

The BEFSCI Project

DISCLAIMER: We reserve the right to select what we publish of the information that you share with us. Participation in this initiative and publication of your experience on the BEFSCI page is not an endorsement from FAO/BEFSCI. The responsibility for maintaining the accuracy of the information that is provided is the responsibility of the producer/company, and BEFSCI takes no responsibility for verifying the practices.

Good practices in bioenergy survey

Please provide an overview of the relevant project(s), and information on the good practices that your company/organization has implemented in the context of such project(s) in any of the following areas:

·  Access to Land: actions to safeguard access to land by local communities, and to consult and compensate specific individuals, groups, and/or institutions when entering into the land transaction. Please also specify the decision-makers in the land transaction/agreement.

·  Local Food Security: actions to maintain or improve the food security (defined by access, availability, utilization, and stability) of local communities, including through: the combination of energy crops, food crops, and/or livestock on the same land; the use of residues from biofuel feedstock production for food and/or feed; the provision of agricultural inputs and/or equipment to local farmers; trainings/programmes to improve agricultural yields; and the provision of improved cooking equipment to local households; etc.

·  Employment, wages, labour conditions and benefits: actions to develop/train the workforce, wages, labour conditions and/or benefits exceeding the relevant minimum requirements.

·  Income Generation and Inclusion of Smallholders: actions to create income-generating opportunities for local communities, to promote/facilitate the inclusion of smallholder farmers into the bioenergy supply chain, etc.

·  Energy Security and Local Access to Energy: actions to increase the energy security of the area/country and/or to improve access to energy by local communities, etc.

·  Community development: actions to promote community development and improve the well-being of local communities, including youth development programmes, etc. (i.e. including actions to improve access to essential services such as water, sanitation, health, education, housing, roads, etc.)

·  Gender equity: actions to ensure that women and men are treated equally in the workplace, can equally benefit from the project, and that the risks are minimized to both men and women.

To the extent possible, for each good practice in any of the areas listed above please provide a separate description of the following:

·  principal actions taken, including any specific measure/process targeting smallholder farmers, women, youth, migrant workers and/or vulnerable groups in general; the “additional[2]” elements of the measures/processes described should be clearly identified.

·  reasons for implementing the good practice;

·  realized benefits and co-benefits;

·  main challenges encountered;

·  potential replicability in other projects and/or operations of your company; and

·  any photos, graphs, supporting data.

Please provide a profile of your company/organization and of the project(s) where the good practices have been implemented:

Company/Organization
Contact Person
Bioenergy feedstocks
Region/Project Location(s)
Size of Project: Hectares/Acres
Years in Operation
Participation in Sustainability Initiatives (Roundtables, etc.)
Project Finance[3]
Website

[1] The FAO’s Bioenergy and Food Security Criteria and Indicators (BEFSCI) project is developing a set of criteria, indicators, good practices and policy options on sustainable bioenergy production that foster rural development and food security.

[2] In the context of this survey, “additionality” refers to the elements of the measures/processes described that exceed national legislation/regulations and/or funding organization requirements.

[3] Please specify if the project is financed by donor/foundation/development bank/private capital or a mix there-of.