Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 told the BBC.

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

He is one of the numerous people opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant 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 stay well away as it is poisonous. The area impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.

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

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

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

The 27 EU nations have signed up to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to 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' a vehicle?

But campaign 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 cars and truck in Europe when hunger in the house is still a truth?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over - the federal government has actually offered the green light for a pilot job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last paperwork.

The company states numerous irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the project.

"We desire to safeguard your houses and the personal home. We will farm around the houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these people. They are really delighted 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 declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare request mentioning concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we have not approved the task already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be ditched as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly a 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that large quantities of carbon are saved in the forests' greenery and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this vegetation.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving countless regional people of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

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

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

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

"Yes we need 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 mercy of a profit-driven company.

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

"This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy should never be at the cost of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

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

If they feel let down by the federal government and the local authorities, residents simply may turn to unconventional techniques in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

Kenya's politicians do not have a great track record when it pertains to operating in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea