Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being in the shade of a tree next to 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 implies shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

He is one of the lots of 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 an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, originally from South America, has 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 regional council.

Kenya jatropha curcas 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 provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is tough to discover 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 actually labelled some of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.

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

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

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

The company states hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be produced and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the project.

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

"We are assisting these individuals. They are really delighted for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It denied the initial 50,000-hectare demand mentioning concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to justify if the number needs 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 new research study 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 examine just how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that large amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plant life and soil however the plantation would mean clearing the land of this vegetation.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving countless local individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of new classrooms and pit latrines have actually simply been developed.

They were part funded by the European Union - the very organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is not good to build a class and then send out the pupils away," said 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 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 states it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya till 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 conventional medicine.

If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, locals simply may turn to unorthodox methods in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one objective, then it is extremely easy to eliminate him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea