Abstract
Social impacts of anthropogenic activities are important factor in determining sustainability of production and consumption systems. This paper examines the production and consumption of biodiesel in South Africa, with a view to do an initial assessment of its life cycle social impacts. The methods developed by UNEP and its partners are incorporated. Competition between bio-fuels and food issues are found not to be straightforward especially when by-products of biodiesel production are used as animal feed. Particular social issues in South Africa include, low wage for farm workers, the use of
illegal workers from neighboring countries, crime against commercial farmers and child labour. Some additional value addition in the sector can improve wages and living standards while indiscriminate land use can result in increased food prices. It is argued that more work needs to be done to examine these specific impacts and contribute to a better understanding of social LCA.