Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion


23 March 2011


By Will Ross


BBC News, Dakatcha


Being 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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.


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


He is among the lots of individuals opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.


It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 people along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.


Ambitious goals


An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for permission to lease 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 actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is harmful. The location impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.


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


It has leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.


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


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


Why is Africa affected?


Because it is difficult to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.


Why 'feed' a car?


But campaign groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire consequences for the often voiceless African neighborhoods.


Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile 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 since they desire to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had actually been no deal of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.


Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the are over - the government has okayed for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documentation.


The company says hundreds of permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the project.


"We wish to safeguard the homes and the personal property. We will farm around your homes," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.


"We are helping these individuals. They are very delighted for this project. 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 refused the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.


"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to validate if the number needs to change which is why we haven't authorized the job already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).


However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be ditched as new research casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is really 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 investigate just how green the jatropha curcas job in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.


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


This is partially since big quantities of carbon are saved in the forests' greenery and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plants.


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


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


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


Unorthodox methods


At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have just been constructed.


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


"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is not excellent to build a class and then send out the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.


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


There are clearly concerns on the ground that as soon as 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 until it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural environments.


"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy need to never be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.


The forests are also a rich source of product for standard medicine.


If they feel let down by the government and the regional authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox methods in a quote to keep the land.


"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is very easy to eliminate him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.


The fate of the individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan 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 comes to working in the interests of individuals.


ActionAid


Kenya jatropha curcas Energy


RSPB


Nema


Ikea