Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting 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 suggests shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

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

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as worldwide threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has asked the authorities for permission to rent 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 actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other business have leased land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is tough to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But campaign groups have identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire consequences for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a cars and truck in Europe when appetite in your home is still a truth?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over - the government has okayed for a pilot job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final documentation.

The company says numerous irreversible and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the job.

"We wish to protect your houses and the personal residential or commercial property. We will farm around your homes," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these people. They are very happy for this task. 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 mentioning issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to validate if the number has to alter which is why we haven't authorized the task already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be ditched as new research study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative 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 curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly since large amounts of carbon are stored in the woodlands' plant life and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plants.

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

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

In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually just 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 closed down.

"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not good to develop a classroom and after that send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

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

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to eco-friendly energy need to never be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, locals just may turn to unorthodox methods in a bid to keep the land.

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

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

It is not unexpected they are fretted.

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

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea