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 next to 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 implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

He is one of the numerous individuals opposed to the creation of a big 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 internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be developed into 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 toxic. The location impacted 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 nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other business have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have registered to a directive which mentions 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 available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' an automobile?

But campaign groups have identified a few of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming effects for the often voiceless African communities.

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

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we need to move since they desire to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom 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 settlements are over - the federal government has okayed for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documents.

The company states hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

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

"We are assisting 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 rejected the initial 50,000-hectare request citing issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to validate if the number has to alter which 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 calls for the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as new research calls into question 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 curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The 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 nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partially due to the fact that big quantities of carbon are saved in the woodlands' plants and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this plants.

"The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies because they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," 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 people of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most thorough and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new class 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 locals fear could see the school closed down.

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

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

There are clearly concerns on the ground that once 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 until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable resource must never be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The woodlands are also a rich source of product for standard medication.

If they feel let down by the federal government and the regional authorities, homeowners simply may turn to unconventional techniques in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is very simple to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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