"I'm Evandro Gussi, president and CEO of Unica, the sugarcane and bioenergy industry in Brazil. The world has two deep challenges in our century first, to provide food and energy, and second, to do this with sustainability. We understand that the answer is in what Food and Agriculture Organization learned something like 13-15 years ago, what we call the integrated food and energy systems. In Brazil, where we are trying to achieve it, we have a wonderful experience to share".
Evandro Gussi, president of UNICA, Union of the Sugar Cane Industry, spoke to AGRICOLAE, during the conference at the Brazilian Embassy in Italy dedicated to agricultural sustainability in Brazil and organized by Brazil Agri-Food Facts.
"In this sense, in terms of ethanol and bioenergy, we were able to develop the replacement of efficient and degraded areas into agricultural and efficient production lands, available to produce more energy and more food, even in sugarcane production and ethanol, but also in corn ethanol production", emphasizes Gussi.
"Then in Brazil, we don't have food versus fuel, but we have fuel plus food. The more fuel we produce, the more food we have the capacity to make available.
But this isn't the best news. The best news is that this model could be replicable in countries in Africa, and in countries in Asia as well. We understand that Brazil and Europe, especially Italy, have a lot of opportunities to join together to support impoverished countries and developed countries, where you don't have neither food nor energy for these people. Together, we could increase the social and economic development of these countries", the president concludes.