Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 defiant.

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

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

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

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

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

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

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

It has actually leased nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other business have leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

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

Why 'feed' an automobile?

But project groups have actually identified some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements 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 documents.

The business says hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal tasks will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the project.

"We desire to safeguard your houses and the private property. We will farm around your houses," Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping 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 deal has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare request mentioning concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to validate if the number needs to change which is why we haven't approved the job already," 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 study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly 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 simply how green the jatropha task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partly because big amounts of carbon are saved in the forests' greenery and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this greenery.

"The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that 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 termination and denying thousands of local individuals of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most extensive and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox methods

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous new classrooms and pit latrines have just been developed.

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

"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to construct a classroom and then send out the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

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

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 habitats.

"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy should never ever be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are also a rich source of material for conventional medication.

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

"If all the senior citizens come together for one objective, then it is very simple to remove him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are stressed.

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

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea