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 bold.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it means shedding blood," he told 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 production of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

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

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.

This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is harmful. The area 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 leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other business have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is tough to discover 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a car?

But project groups have identified some of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with dire consequences for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over - the federal government has actually provided the green light for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final paperwork.

The company says numerous permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

"We desire to protect the homes and the private home. 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 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 offer has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the initial 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have actually told them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we have not approved the task up to now," 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 study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative to oil.

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

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha curcas would emit in between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partially because big amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' vegetation and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.

"The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies because they are not decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

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

In response, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most thorough and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of new class and pit latrines have just been developed.

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

"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is bad 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 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 oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural habitats.

"This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy need to never be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are also a rich source of material for conventional medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, residents simply might turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.

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

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

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent track record when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea