Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

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 implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

"Land is very essential 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 big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

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

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is harmful. The location affected is neighborhood 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 nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the very same purpose 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 directive which states that by 2020, 20% of energy should 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 instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a cars and truck?

But project groups have actually labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire consequences for the typically voiceless African communities.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when appetite at home is still a truth?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we have to move due to the fact that they desire to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who added 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 government has offered the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documents.

The company states numerous long-term and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the project.

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

"We are helping these people. They are extremely pleased for this job. 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 rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number has to alter and that is why we have not approved the task up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be ditched as new research 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 simply how green the jatropha curcas job in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would produce between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are saved in the woodlands' plants and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving countless local individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

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

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

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is not great to build a classroom and after that send the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require jobs. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your job."

There are plainly issues on the ground that once 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 contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

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

The woodlands are also a rich source of product for conventional medicine.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, locals just may turn to unorthodox approaches in a quote to keep the land.

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

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea