Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 really important 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 development of a big biofuel plantation in the location, 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 worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has asked the authorities for consent 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, originally 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 impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings merchant Ikea. Other business have actually leased land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

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

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

But project groups have actually labelled some of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with alarming effects for the often 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 told we need to move since they desire to plant jatropha curcas here," said 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 states the negotiations are over - the federal government has okayed for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documentation.

The business states hundreds of permanent and countless seasonal tasks will be created and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the task.

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

"We are assisting these people. They are really pleased for this task. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's environment guard dog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It denied the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand pointing out issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

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

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha job to be ditched as new research casts doubt on whether jatropha is really a greener option to oil.

The anti-poverty project group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine just how green the jatropha curcas project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would produce between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially because large amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plant life and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plants.

"The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies since they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

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

In action, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most detailed and innovative sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox methods

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

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

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to construct a class and then send the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we require jobs. But a farm without a home is bad. You need to have a home before you go to your job."

There are plainly issues on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.

Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.

"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable resource need to never ever be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The woodlands are also an abundant source of material for traditional medication.

If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, residents just might turn to unorthodox methods 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," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have a great track record when it pertains to operating in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea