Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it means shedding blood," he told the BBC.

"Land is very crucial to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is among the many people opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for approval to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is dangerous. The area impacted is community land which is being held in trust by the local council.

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other companies have actually rented land for the very same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This growth has been stimulated by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence on imported oil.

The 27 EU nations have actually signed up to a directive which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is hard to discover 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a car?

But project groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming effects for the typically voiceless African communities.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when appetite at home is still a truth?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been told we have to move because they want to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no deal of compensation for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the government has provided the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documents.

The business states numerous irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the job.

"We wish to protect your houses and the private property. We will farm around the houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping these individuals. They are very delighted for this project. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It refused the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to validate if the number has to change which is why we haven't authorized the job up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is really a greener option to oil.

The anti-poverty project group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to investigate simply how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha would emit between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partly because large amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' vegetation and soil but the plantation would mean clearing the land of this greenery.

"The report shows that EU policies are foolish policies because they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying thousands of regional people of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous new class and pit latrines have simply been built.

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the really organisation which is now accused of pushing policies which locals fear could see the school shut down.

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to develop a class and after that send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You need to have a home before you go to your task."

There are clearly issues on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.

Ikea states it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya till it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to sustainable energy must never ever be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for standard medicine.

If they feel pull down by the government and the regional authorities, citizens just might turn to unconventional approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of the individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi's municipal council.

It is not surprising they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have a great performance history when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea