Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting 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 suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

He is among the numerous people opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 people in addition to worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich 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 dangerous. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.

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

It has leased nearly 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 leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

This growth has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering 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 tough to discover 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 labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming consequences for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a vehicle in Europe when appetite in the house 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 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 says the negotiations are over - the federal government has given the green light for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documents.

The business states numerous irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the project.

"We wish to secure your homes and the personal property. 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 extremely happy for this project. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It turned down 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 informed them to justify if the number needs to change and that is why we haven't authorized the job already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha job to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative to oil.

The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine just how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partially since large amounts of carbon are saved in the forests' greenery and soil but the plantation would mean clearing the land of this plant life.

"The report shows that EU policies are silly policies due to the fact that 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 worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local people of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox methods

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

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

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to build a class and after that send out the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require jobs. But a farm without a home is not good. You require to have a home before you go to your job."

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource should never be at the cost of people 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 pull down by the government and the regional authorities, residents simply might turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one objective, then it is really simple to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

Kenya's politicians do not have an excellent performance history when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea