Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting 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 means shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

He is one of the numerous people 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 a dry location and home to some 20,000 people as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally 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 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 retailer Ikea. Other business have leased land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This growth has actually been spurred by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for reducing 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 affected?

Because it is difficult to discover 50,000 hectares of offered 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 a few of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with alarming consequences for the frequently voiceless African communities.

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 told we have to move due to the fact that they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added 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 provided the green light for a pilot project to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documents.

The company states numerous long-term and thousands of seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the task.

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

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

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's environment guard dog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have actually told them to validate if the number needs to change which is why we have not authorized the job already," stated 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 casts doubt on whether jatropha is really a greener option 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 job in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would emit 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 woodlands' plant life and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.

"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 devastate the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying countless regional people of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

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

They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now implicated of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school shut down.

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not good to build a classroom and after that send the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

There are plainly concerns on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven company.

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

"This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy need to never ever be at the cost of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for traditional medicine.

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners just might turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely easy to remove him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing 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 local council.

It is not surprising they are worried.

Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent performance history when it pertains to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea