Footer, Mary E. --- "Biotechnology and the International Regulation of Food and Fuel Security in Developing Countries" [2010] ELECD 639; in Faundez, Julio; Tan, Celine (eds), "International Economic Law, Globalization and Developing Countries" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: International Economic Law, Globalization and Developing Countries

Editor(s): Faundez, Julio; Tan, Celine

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848441132

Section: Chapter 15

Section Title: Biotechnology and the International Regulation of Food and Fuel Security in Developing Countries

Author(s): Footer, Mary E.

Number of pages: 23

Extract:

15. Biotechnology and the
international regulation of food
and fuel security in developing
countries
Mary E. Footer*

1. INTRODUCTION

According to the United Nations, the world's population is set to grow
from the current 6.8 billion to surpass 9.1 billion in 2050, with sub-
Saharan Africa and Asia accounting for a large proportion of the addi-
tional increase of 2.3 billion (UN, 2009c: vii, ix­x, 1). Already there is
evidence that shows not only a rise in per capita food consumption but
also changes in the geography of consumption. As household incomes
around the world have risen, the current financial crisis notwithstanding,
there has been a dietary shift in many developing countries away from
vegetables and pulses to greater consumption of meat and dairy, with
increased reliance on grain-fed livestock (Stamoulis et al., 2004: 155­8,
165).
Additionally, some developing countries face high demand for biofuels1
from industrial countries where fossil fuels are being rapidly depleted.
Increasingly, biofuels are being produced in developing countries like
Brazil, China, India and Nigeria, with sugar cane and sweet sorghum as
the basis for bioethanol.2 Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia are turning
acreage previously used for rubber production over to palm oil and



* Professor of International Economic Law, School of Law, University of
Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
1 `Biofuels' means any solid, liquid or gaseous fuel produced from `biomass'

for use in transport.
2 `Bioethanol' (or simply ethanol) is a gasoline-type fuel made by fermenting

sugars found in ...