Traditional bioenergy is the dominant source of energy for about half of the world’s population, and it is used mainly for cooking. This in itself makes access to bioenergy a right to food issue. Increasingly, though, modern bioenergy is becoming prominent with a different kind of land-use, based on cash crops and plantations, and with the use of technologically advanced processing of biomass into liquid biofuels. Therefore, the term agrofuels might describe the issue more aptly. In recent years, agrofuels have been seen as part of the solution in combating climate change. They are a renewable source of energy, and provide new employment and income opportunities for rural populations. In fact, for the first time in many decades, agricultural commodity prices are stabilizing at higher levels. In principle, this could benefit the masses of poor small-scale farmers.

At the same time, however, poor and landless people are consumers themselves, and marginal price increases may ruin the livelihoods of those who spend up to 80 percent of their income on food. Statistical evidence shows that world caloric consumption typically declines as prices rise, by a ratio of 1:2. If the trend continues, with every one percent rise in the cost of food, a new 16 million people would be made food insecure. FAO research shows that food prices will be increasingly linked to oil prices.

Internet: <www.globalpolicy.org> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the following item.

In the text, “Therefore” means Furthermore.