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 suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

"Land is very essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is among the lots of people opposed to the production of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 people in addition to globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has asked the authorities for authorization to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, 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 stay well away as it is dangerous. The location affected is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.

Kenya Jatropha 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 in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have signed up to a directive which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

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

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But campaign groups have identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when cravings in the house is still a truth?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been told we have to move since they want to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who added that there had been no offer of compensation 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 project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last paperwork.

The company states hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal tasks will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the project.

"We want to secure your homes and the private home. We will farm around your homes," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping these individuals. They are really delighted 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 initial 50,000-hectare request pointing out concerns over the impact on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

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

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha task to be ditched as new research calls into question whether jatropha 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would give off 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 saved in the woodlands' plant life and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plants.

"The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies since 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 internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving countless regional people of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most detailed and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous new classrooms and pit latrines have just been constructed.

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 shut down.

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to build a class and then send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require 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 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 should never be at the expense of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The forests are likewise an abundant source of material for standard medication.

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

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

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 politicians do not have an excellent track record when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea