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Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 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 development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals along with globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian company has asked the authorities for approval to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.

Kenya Jatropha 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 furniture seller Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have actually registered to a regulation which states that by 2020, 20% of energy ought 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 biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a vehicle?

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

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a vehicle in Europe when appetite in the house is still a reality?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over - the federal government has given the green light for a pilot job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documentation.

The company says numerous irreversible and countless seasonal tasks will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the project.

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

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

How green are biofuels?

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

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to validate if the number needs to alter and that is why we have not authorized the task already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha job to be scrapped 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 investigate just how green the jatropha curcas project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would release 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 vegetation.

"The report shows that EU policies are foolish policies since they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving countless local individuals of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

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

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

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not great to build a class and after that send out the students away," said the deputy head .

"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 clearly concerns on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven company.

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

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

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

If they feel let down by the federal government and the regional authorities, citizens simply might turn to unconventional approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one objective, then it is extremely simple to remove him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional 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 municipal council.

It is not unexpected they are worried.

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

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea