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Land and agronomic potential for biofuel production in Southern Africa

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  • Michael von Maltitz
  • Marna van der Merwe

Abstract

The Southern African region, from a purely biophysical perspective, has huge potential for biofuel production, especially in Mozambique and Zambia. Although many of the soils are sandy and acidic, with careful management and correct fertilization, they should be highly productive. We suggest that sugarcane is the crop most easily mobilized for biofuel. A number of other crops, such as sweet sorghum, cassava, and tropical sugar beet, have good potential but will need further agronomic and processing technology investigations.

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  • Michael von Maltitz & Marna van der Merwe, 2017. "Land and agronomic potential for biofuel production in Southern Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-85, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-85
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2017-85.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Tito Francisco Ianda & Emerson Andrade Sales & Ademar Nogueira Nascimento & Antonio Domingos Padula, 2020. "Optimizing the Cooperated “Multi-Countries” Biodiesel Production and Consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-25, September.
    2. KeChrist Obileke & Patrick Mukumba & Mahali Elizabeth Lesala, 2024. "Advancement of Bioenergy Technology in South Africa," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-19, August.

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