18 February 2025
We are excited to announce the significant milestone of having achieved the first ISCC EU low ILUC (indirect land-use change) certificate! It was awarded to Janari Farms, serving as the farmers’ aggregator for Italy’s energy company Eni SpA in Kenya, for the production of castor beans to be used as agri-feedstock in the production of biofuels.
Understanding Land Use Change vs. Indirect Land Use Change
Land use change refers to the direct transformation of land from one type of use to another, such as converting a forest into agricultural land. As outlined in principle one of our six principles, this process is never an option under ISCC certification.
Indirect land use change (ILUC) includes changes that are more difficult to detect because they may happen in unexpected ways or places. For example, ILUC can occur when crops grown for bioliquids or other products displace food and feed crops on existing agricultural land. As the demand for food and feed continues, this shift can create pressure to convert non-agricultural land, including areas with high carbon stocks, into farmland. At Janari Farms, farmers have cultivated castor on severely degraded land without risk of direct and indirect displacement of food and feed crops.
Sustainable Biofuel Production through Yield Boosts and Unused Land
The low ILUC risk certification documents that the increasing demand for biofuel feedstock can be satisfied in two main ways: by improving agricultural yields through practices such as sequential cropping, better soil management, crop protection, or modernised machinery, or by cultivating crops on previously unused, abandoned, or severely degraded land. Therefore, low ILUC risk feedstock production avoids displacing natural, unmanaged ecosystems, like forests, wetlands, or grasslands, to produce biomass for food, feed, or biofuels.
You Want to Get to the Bottom of it?
The ISCC EU 202-07 Low ILUC Risk Feedstock System Document provides detailed information on the ISCC low ILUC risk certification process.
Certification in Practice – A Closer Look at the Impact on Site
In Kenya, severely degraded lands are characterised by poor soil fertility, erosion, and limited agricultural productivity, therefore often being marginally suitable or economically not attractive for food crops. Production of energy crops through regenerative agricultural practices, according to low ILUC standards, can increase soil organic carbon and improve the overall agricultural vocation of rural areas, paving the way for soil regeneration, which can then be reused for food production in the future. Sustainable biofuel value chains offer the opportunity for local socio-economic development by providing additional and diversified incomes to farmers in rural areas.