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Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 extremely crucial to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is one of the lots of people opposed to the production 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 as well as globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The location impacted is community land which is being held in trust by the local council.

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other companies have actually leased land for the very same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU nations have signed up to a regulation which states that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is hard to find 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 campaign groups have actually identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.

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

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been told we need to move since they wish to plant jatropha here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had actually been no offer of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

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

The business states hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the project.

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

"We are assisting these people. They are really pleased for this task. 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 refused the initial 50,000-hectare demand citing concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number needs to change and that is why we have not authorized the task already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as brand-new research study calls into question whether jatropha is actually 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 investigate simply how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partially because big quantities of carbon are stored in the forests' greenery and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this vegetation.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the woodlands, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying countless regional people of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

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

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

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is not good to develop a classroom and then send out the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require 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 when the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable energy need to never be at the expense of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are also an abundant source of product for conventional medication.

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners just may turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is very easy to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not surprising they are fretted.

Kenya's politicians do not have an excellent performance history when it comes to working in the interests of the people.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea