Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

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

He is among 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 in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals – goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The area affected is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.

Kenya jatropha curcas 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 furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have actually leased land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

The 27 EU nations 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 find 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 jobs in Africa « land grabs » with dire effects for the often voiceless African communities.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over – the government has actually offered the green light for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last paperwork.

The company says hundreds of long-term and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the project.

« We want to protect your houses and the private residential or commercial property. We will farm around your houses, » Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

« We are assisting these people. They are very pleased for this project. 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 refused the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

« We were advising 1,000 hectares … We have told them to validate if the number has to change and that is why we have not authorized the job up to now, » stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be ditched as brand-new research 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 just how green the jatropha job in Kenya’s Dakatcha woodlands 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 fossil fuels.

This is partly since large amounts of carbon are saved in the woodlands’ vegetation and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this vegetation.

« The report shows that EU policies are silly policies because they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming, » stated ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

« The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local individuals of their livelihoods, » said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as « the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world ».

Unorthodox approaches

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

They were part moneyed by the European Union – the extremely organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which residents fear might see the school closed down.

« My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to develop a class and after that send out the pupils away, » said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

« Yes we need jobs. But a farm without a home is not excellent. You require to have a home before you go to your task. »

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 states it will not source jatropha curcas 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 renewable resource need to never ever be at the expenditure of individuals or the environment, » Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for standard medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox methods in a quote to keep the land.

« If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is very easy to eliminate him with our medicines, » stated Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, referring to 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 surprising they are stressed.

Kenya’s politicians do not have an excellent track record when it comes to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea