With oil prices at record highs, the report said, worldwide investment in biofuels reached US$21 billion in 2007.
The Inter-American Development Bank announced US$3 billion for investment in private sector biofuel projects, mainly in Brazil, while the World Bank said it had US$10 billion available in 2007.
But financing for food agriculture was dwindling in comparison, the report said. Development assistance for food-producing agriculture had fallen to US$3.4 billion in 2004, with the World Bank’s share less than US$1 billion.
Simone Lovera, managing coordinator of Global Forest Coalition, a Latin American environmental NGO, says a moratorium on further biofuel expansion is needed to set up guidelines and a monitoring system. "As things stand now, kids are starving because of agrofuels," she was reported saying.
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