Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

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 bold.


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


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


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


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


Ambitious goals


An Italian company has asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich 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 affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the local 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 to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other business have actually rented land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.


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


The 27 EU countries have actually signed up to a regulation which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.


Why is Africa affected?


Because it is hard to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.


Why 'feed' a car?


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


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


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


Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over - the government has actually offered the green light for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final documents.


The company says numerous irreversible and thousands of seasonal tasks will be created and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the project.


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


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


How green are biofuels?


According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand citing concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.


"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to validate if the number has to change and that is why we have not approved the project already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).


However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be ditched as new research calls into question whether jatropha is truly a greener option to oil.


The anti-poverty project group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to investigate 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 curcas would give off in between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.


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


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


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


In reaction, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".


Unorthodox methods


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


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


"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to construct a classroom and then send the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.


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


There are clearly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven company.


Ikea states it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya till it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural habitats.


"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource need to never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.


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


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


"If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is really easy to eliminate him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.


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


It is not unexpected they are worried.


Kenya's political leaders do not have a great track record when it comes to working in the interests of individuals.


ActionAid


Kenya jatropha curcas Energy


RSPB


Nema


Ikea