Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is defiant.

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

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

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

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

It has rented almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings retailer Ikea. Other business have rented land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

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

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But campaign groups have identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over - the government has actually offered the green light for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documents.

The company says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be created and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the project.

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

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

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the initial 50,000-hectare demand mentioning issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number has to alter and that is why we haven't authorized the job up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is actually a greener alternative to oil.

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

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

This is partially because big quantities of carbon are kept in the woodlands' greenery and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this greenery.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local people of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In action, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and innovative sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox techniques

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

They were part funded by the European Union - the really organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents fear could see the school closed down.

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to build a class and then send out the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we need jobs. But a farm without a home is not great. You require to have a home before you go to your job."

There are clearly concerns on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven company.

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource need to never be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the local authorities, citizens simply might turn to unorthodox approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one objective, then it is extremely simple to eliminate him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a standard healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea