Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being 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 implies shedding blood, » he informed the BBC.

« Land is really crucial to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead. »

He is among the many people opposed to the production of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour’s drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for authorization to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich 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 stay well away as it is harmful. The area impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

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

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

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

Why ‘feed’ a cars and truck?

But project groups have actually identified some of the tasks in Africa « land grabs » with dire repercussions for the frequently voiceless African communities.

Some ask: « Why ‘feed’ a car in Europe when hunger at home is still a truth? »

« Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been told we have to move due to the fact that they wish to plant jatropha here, » said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had actually been no offer of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over – the federal government has actually okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last paperwork.

The business states hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the project.

« We want to protect your houses and the personal property. We will farm around your houses, » Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

« We are assisting these individuals. They are really happy for this job. No-one will be moved. »

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment guard dog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand mentioning issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

« We were advising 1,000 hectares … We have told them to validate if the number has to change and that is why we haven’t approved the project 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 casts doubt on whether jatropha is actually 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 examine simply how green the jatropha curcas job in Kenya’s Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that big quantities of carbon are kept in the woodlands’ vegetation and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this greenery.

« The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies because they are not decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming, » said ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

« The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to extinction and denying countless local people of their livelihoods, » stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In action, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as « the most detailed and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world ».

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new class and pit latrines have simply been built.

They were part funded by the European Union – the very organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents fear could see the school closed down.

« My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to develop a classroom and then send the pupils away, » said the deputy head Karissa.

« Yes we need 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 until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.

« This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy should never be at the expense of individuals or the environment, » Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.

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

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

« If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to eliminate him with our medications, » said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi’s local council.

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

Kenya’s political leaders do not have a good performance history when it concerns working in the interests of the people.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea