THE governments of East African countries should think critically before introducing policy on bio-fuel development for the region to maintain food security, as the development could shift huge chunks of land to cash crop farming.

The Minister for East African Cooperation, Mr Samuel Sitta, sounded the warning in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, saying countries likely to strike oil on their own land should not rush into bio-fuel development. "We should discus bio-energy investment while considering the availability of oil along the coast of East Africa," noted Mr Sitta.

He said bio-fuel development would force people to become labourers in cash crop farms hence abandon food production, creating a shortage in the region. Mr Sitta was speaking during the East African conference on Bio-energy and Food Security focusing on complexity of economic, social and ecological interests of foreign investment on sustainable energy in the region.

The meeting was organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) non-governmental organization. Dr Stefan Chrobot, who is the Resident Director of FES in the Tanzania office, said the meeting was aimed at assessing the current situation regarding policy implications and strategies in the agricultural sector as well as the issue of Bio-energy.

"The different questions shall be discussed after critical and supporting presentations for relevance and production of bio-energy," he said. He explained the meeting was inspired by the recent regional conference held in Kenya on Foreign Direct Investment in Agriculture-Regional Impacts, saying the two-day meeting was another step of FES's efforts in the field of energy policies.

Dr Chrobot said the conference would discuss different opinions on large scale production of Bio-energy in Africa and that the meeting would come up with recommendations to be submitted to the governments of East African countries. "This conference brings together critically thinking individuals to gather their thoughts regarding the topic of bio-energy," he said.

The meeting was attended by participants from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and experts from Germany. The participants included Members of Parliaments, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Trade Unions at national, regional and global levels, the Private sector and representatives of national EAC Vision Group.