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

He is among 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 an arid location 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 approval to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, 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 remain well away as it is harmful. The location impacted is neighborhood 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 almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have actually leased land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

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

Why 'feed' a car?

But campaign groups have actually labelled some of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the federal government has actually provided the green light for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last paperwork.

The company says numerous permanent and thousands of seasonal tasks will be created and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.

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

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

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It refused the preliminary 50,000-hectare request mentioning concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to validate if the number needs to alter which is why we have not approved the project already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be scrapped 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 examine simply how green the jatropha task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plant life and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plants.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving thousands of regional individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability plan 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 just been built.

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

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

"Yes we require jobs. But a farm without a home is not excellent. You need 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 grace of a profit-driven company.

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

"This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy should never ever be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are likewise a rich source of material for standard medicine.

If they feel let down by the government and the regional authorities, residents just might turn to unconventional methods in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not unexpected they are fretted.

Kenya's politicians do not have a good performance history when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea