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Crop-based biofuels represent an environmental and political alternative to fossil fuels, as well as an important source of rural development income; as global biofuel markets continue to mature, however, their impact on food security remains controversial. This study investigates the effects of biofuel feedstock adoption by smallholders in the northwestern Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey, a region undergoing rapid land use change following the formal end of the Khmer Rouge era in 1989 and subsequent rural resettlement. Remote sensing data combined with field interviews pointed to three discrete phases of land use change in this period: first, as a result of the establishment of new settlements (mainly subsistence rice production); second, via the expansion of cash crop cultivation into forested areas (mainly grown on upland fields); and third, due to the response of smallholders to a sharp increase in …