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 individuals opposed to the production of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 people along with globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The location impacted 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 actually rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other companies have actually leased land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

This growth has been stimulated by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for decreasing 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 should be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is difficult to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a car?

But project groups have actually labelled some of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we have to move because they wish to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no deal of settlement 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 start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final paperwork.

The company says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the project.

"We wish to protect the houses and the personal property. We will farm around your homes," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping these people. They are extremely happy for this project. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It refused the initial 50,000-hectare demand citing issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number has to change and that is why we haven't approved the project up to now," stated 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 curcas 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 just how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly since big amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plants and soil however the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this plant life.

"The report shows 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 devastate the woodlands, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving countless regional individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox techniques

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

They were part funded by the European Union - the really organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which residents fear might see the school closed down.

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

"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. 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 grace of a profit-driven business.

Ikea states 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 nonrenewable fuel sources to sustainable energy must never be at the expenditure of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel let down by the federal government and the local authorities, residents just may turn to unorthodox approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely easy to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are stressed.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea