At a recent meeting of the justice and peace group of my local church, I was shocked to hear of the plight of many African farmers.

A sister from a local nunnery handed out information entitled 'Africans unite in calling for an immediate moratorium on the switch from food to fuel'.

I found this article very enlightening and would like to share this knowledge with your readers.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that some 100 million tonnes of cereals are being diverted to the production of biofuels each year.

If like myself (and my computer) biofuel is a new term to you, this refers to a process of making fuel from food substances, such as wheat and maize.

African governments are handing over huge tracts of fertile land to private companies aiming to convert biomass grown on large plantations into liquid fuels for export markets.

Recently, the Science journal published a major study concluding that biofuels "contributed to climate change as the environmental cost of land conversions generated more carbon emissions than it saved".

Can we not, in Great Britain, support Africa in its bid to keep farmlands solely for food - vital for the simple fact that they nurture human beings - rather than tender them out to an economy that bases its beliefs on profit rather than human beings?

MOIRA GENE FINN Oxford Road Cowley Oxford