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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

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

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

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats remain well away as it is harmful. The location affected is community land which is being held in trust by the local council.

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

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

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

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' an automobile?

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

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

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

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

The business says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be created and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the task.

"We wish to secure your houses and the personal home. We will farm around the houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these individuals. They are really pleased for this job. 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 denied the initial 50,000-hectare demand citing issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have actually told them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we haven't approved the job 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 brand-new research study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative 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 curcas job in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly because large quantities of carbon are stored in the woodlands' vegetation and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plants.

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

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

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

Unorthodox methods

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually simply been constructed.

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

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

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

There are plainly issues on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.

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 fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy should never be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.

The forests are likewise a rich source of material for traditional medicine.

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

"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is really easy to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea