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 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 production of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

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

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for approval to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become 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 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 rented nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other companies have actually rented land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have signed up to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

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

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But project groups have actually identified 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 appetite in your home is still a truth?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the federal government has offered the green light for a pilot project to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documentation.

The business says hundreds of long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the task.

"We desire to secure the homes and the personal property. We will farm around the houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these individuals. They are really delighted for this project. 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 denied the initial 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

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

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be ditched as brand-new research study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is actually 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 investigate simply how green the jatropha job in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

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

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

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

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

Unorthodox methods

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

They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school closed down.

"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is not great to build a class and then send out the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

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

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to sustainable energy must never be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

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

If they feel let down by the government and the regional authorities, locals just might turn to unorthodox approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is really simple to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional 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 local council.

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

do not have a good track record when it pertains to working in the interests of the people.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea