Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

in the shade of a tree next to 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 means shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

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

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

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The location affected is neighborhood 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 actually rented almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other business have actually rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have signed up to a regulation which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy ought to 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 instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But campaign groups have labelled some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the typically voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over - the government has okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the last documents.

The company states hundreds of long-term and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the task.

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

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

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare request mentioning issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have actually told them to validate if the number needs to change which is why we have not authorized the project 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 brand-new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would emit between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partially since big quantities of carbon are stored in the woodlands' greenery and soil however the plantation would mean clearing the land of this plants.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the woodlands, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying thousands of regional people of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In action, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

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

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

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

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

There are plainly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace 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 nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable energy should never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are likewise a rich source of product for standard medication.

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

"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is extremely easy to eliminate him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, 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 community council.

It is not unexpected they are worried.

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

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea