Bioeconomy trends in developing countries

The Natural economy is characterised by subsistence farming and traditional biomass use with minimal technological inputs and low productivity, generally leading to ecosystem degradation as the population grows. The Fossil economy is primarily based on non-renewable resources and characterised by high levels of material consumption in relation to income and/or other measures of well-being.

The Bioeconomy relies on renewable resources to produce food, energy, products and services while minimising biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. In most low-income countries, the natural economy is still significant while high-income economies rely heavily on the fossil economy even as they aim to develop the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy spans many different sectors of economic activity and differs widely across regions; consequently, enabling policies and institutions are quite heterogeneous. In terms of governance, in the global North, the bioeconomy is normally aligned with climate mitigation policies or strategies. In the global South bioeconomy strategy is more likely to follow a “development first” approach. More than 40 countries have developed bioeconomy strategies and/or are promoting an expanded role for bio-based economies. There is tremendous diversity in such strategies and there is no one-size fits all blueprint

This session aims to bring examples and views of bioeconomy, emphasising a global perspective and aiming to connect developments in the Global South to those in the EU and elsewhere, focusing especially on the value chains and different governance forms. The session provides regional overviews for Latin America, Asia and Africa and brings these together into a panel session.

Agenda