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 very crucial 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 creation of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

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

Kenya jatropha curcas 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 provided to the Swedish furnishings retailer Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is challenging 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 campaign groups have identified some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming consequences for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a cars and truck in Europe when hunger in the house is still a reality?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the federal government has actually okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documentation.

The company says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the project.

"We wish to safeguard your houses and the personal home. We will farm around your houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these individuals. They are very 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 refused the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have actually told them to validate if the number has to change which is why we haven't authorized the job up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be ditched as brand-new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is really 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 just how green the jatropha 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 partially due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are kept in the forests' greenery and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plant life.

"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 declaring," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

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

In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and innovative sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

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

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the very organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents fear might see the school shut down.

"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to build a class and then send the pupils away," said 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 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 business.

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

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

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

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, residents simply might turn to in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the senior citizens come together for one objective, then it is extremely simple to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not surprising they are stressed.

Kenya's politicians 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