Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

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 suggests shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

He is one of the numerous people opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for permission to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant 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 toxic. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held 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 almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furnishings merchant Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

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

Why is Africa impacted?

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 car?

But project groups have actually labelled some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the frequently 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 actually been informed we need to move since they want to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had been no offer of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

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

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

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

"We are helping 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 actually not yet been sealed. It turned down the initial 50,000-hectare demand mentioning issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number needs to alter and that is why we haven't 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 project to be scrapped as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha is really 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 found that jatropha curcas would give off between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partially because large amounts of carbon are stored in the forests' vegetation and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this greenery.

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

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

In action, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most thorough and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of brand-new class and pit latrines have actually just been constructed.

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

"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not good to develop a class and after that send out the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is not good. You need to have a home before you go to your job."

There are plainly issues on the ground that once 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 add to the conversion of natural habitats.

"This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy must never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply 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 remove 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 federal government and Malindi's local council.

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have a good track record when it comes to operating in the interests of the people.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea