Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being 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 means 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 one of 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 area and home to some 20,000 people along with globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for approval to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become 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 location affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.

Kenya jatropha curcas 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 retailer Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have actually signed up to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy should be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

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

Why 'feed' a cars and truck?

But project groups have actually labelled some of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the typically voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a cars and truck in Europe when appetite in your home is still a reality?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we have to move because they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no deal of compensation for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over - the government has provided the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the last documentation.

The business states hundreds of permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

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

"We are helping these individuals. They are really pleased for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It refused the initial 50,000-hectare request citing concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to change which is why we haven't authorized the job already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be ditched as new research calls into question whether jatropha curcas is really a greener alternative 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 job in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partially due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are stored in the woodlands' vegetation and soil but the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this greenery.

"The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is announcing," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying thousands of local people of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most thorough and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox methods

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

They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.

"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is bad to build a classroom and then send the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

There are clearly issues on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven company.

Ikea states it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya till it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable resource should never be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are also a rich source of material for conventional medication.

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply might turn to unconventional techniques in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is very simple to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have a good track record when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea