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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

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

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for consent to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become bio-diesel.

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

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

It has leased nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other business have rented land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

This expansion has actually been spurred by the European Union, which has actually set ambitious objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence on imported oil.

The 27 EU countries have registered to a regulation which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is difficult to find 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' an automobile?

But project groups have actually labelled a few of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the frequently voiceless African communities.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when cravings at home is still a reality?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the are over - the federal government has actually okayed for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documentation.

The business states numerous long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the job.

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

"We are assisting these individuals. They are really happy for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It rejected the initial 50,000-hectare demand pointing out issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to validate if the number needs to alter and that is why we haven't approved the project up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be ditched as brand-new research calls into question whether jatropha curcas is really a greener option to oil.

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

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would discharge between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially since large quantities of carbon are kept in the woodlands' vegetation and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.

"The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies due to the fact that they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying thousands of local people of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new class and pit latrines have actually simply been developed.

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not great to build a class and then send the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require tasks. But a farm without a home is not good. You need to have a home before you go to your task."

There are plainly concerns on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.

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

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

The forests are likewise an abundant source of product for conventional medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the local authorities, locals simply might turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not unexpected they are worried.

Kenya's politicians do not have a great performance history when it comes to working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea