Soru

Read the passage below carefully:

In recent years, the expansion of commercial bio-ethanol production from cassava has been promoted across several West African economies as a double dividend for industrialization and energy independence. Proponents argue that converting surplus cassava roots into industrial alcohol offers smallholder farmers a stable, lucrative market, thereby reducing post-harvest losses and driving rural economic growth. Furthermore, domestic ethanol refining is expected to diminish national reliance on costly, imported fossil fuels.

However, a critical examination of this agro-industrial shift reveals significant structural vulnerabilities, primarily centered on food security and resource competition. Cassava has traditionally served as an indispensable staple crop for millions of low-income households, owing to its resilience in poor soils and drought conditions. As processing factories incentivize large-scale cultivation solely for industrial distillation, arable land and agricultural labor are increasingly diverted away from food markets. Consequently, local staple food prices have experienced marked volatility in regions hosting bio-refineries, disproportionately burdening landless rural laborers and urban consumers.

While bio-ethanol enterprise undoubtedly presents real economic opportunities, treating cassava primarily as an industrial feedstock without strict regulatory safeguards poses severe risks to regional nutritional security. Therefore, long-term policy strategies must balance industrial biofuel objectives with dedicated protection for domestic food supplies, ensuring that agricultural transformation does not compromise basic human welfare.

Which of the following options best captures the central argument of the author in the passage?