Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.


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


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


It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.


Ambitious objectives


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


This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.


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


It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture seller Ikea. Other companies have actually rented land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.


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


The 27 EU countries have actually registered to a regulation which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy ought to be from sustainable sources, external.


Why is Africa affected?


Because it is difficult to find 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 labelled some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African communities.


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 been told we have to move because they wish to plant jatropha here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had been no offer of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.


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


The business says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.


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


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


How green are biofuels?


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


"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to validate if the number needs to alter and that is why we haven't authorized the task already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).


However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha task to be as new research study casts doubt on 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 examine just how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.


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


This is partly since big amounts of carbon are saved in the forests' greenery and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this greenery.


"The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies because they are not decreasing 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 termination and depriving countless local people of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.


In action, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout 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 just been constructed.


They were part moneyed by the European Union - the really organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which locals fear could see the school shut down.


"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to develop a classroom and after that send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.


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


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


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


"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable resource need to never ever be at the expense of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.


The woodlands are likewise a rich source of product for standard medicine.


If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply might turn to unconventional approaches in a quote to keep the land.


"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is really simple to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.


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


It is not unexpected they are stressed.


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


ActionAid


Kenya jatropha curcas Energy


RSPB


Nema


Ikea