Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
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 defiant.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the numerous individuals opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as internationally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious goals
An Italian company has asked the authorities for permission 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 stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The location impacted is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other business have leased 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 goals for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have registered to a directive which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa affected?
Because it is hard to discover 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a cars and truck?
But project groups have labelled some of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the often voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when appetite in your home is still a reality?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been told we have to move since they wish to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included 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 actually okayed for a pilot task to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last paperwork.
The company states hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal tasks will be developed and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the project.
"We wish to protect the homes and the personal property. We will farm around your homes," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.
"We are helping these individuals. They are very happy for this project. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the initial 50,000-hectare demand pointing out concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.
"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to change which is why we have not authorized the project up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha is actually 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 simply how green the jatropha curcas project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha would discharge between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partly due to the fact that large quantities of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plants and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.
"The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies because they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is announcing," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying thousands of regional individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most detailed and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".
Unorthodox techniques
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new class and pit latrines have simply been built.
They were part moneyed by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents 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 students away," said the 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 clearly issues on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven company.
Ikea states it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya until it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural habitats.
"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to sustainable energy should never ever be at the cost of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.
The forests are likewise a rich source of product for standard medication.
If they feel pull down by the government and the regional authorities, residents just may turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is really simple to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi's community council.
It is not surprising they are worried.
Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent track record when it comes to operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
