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

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

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

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is toxic. The area impacted is community 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 actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other business have leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is hard 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 campaign groups have actually labelled some of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

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

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

The business states hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the task.

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

"We are helping these individuals. They are extremely happy for this task. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

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

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

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha job to be scrapped as brand-new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha is truly 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are stored in the forests' plant life and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plants.

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

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

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

Unorthodox approaches

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

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the very organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which locals fear might see the school shut down.

"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is not great to construct a classroom and then send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

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

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

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable energy need to never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The forests are also an abundant source of product for traditional medication.

If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the senior citizens come together for one objective, then it is really simple to eliminate him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

Kenya's politicians do not have an excellent track record when it comes to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea