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 implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is really important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the lots of people opposed to the production of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious goals
An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is harmful. The location affected 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 actually rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other companies have actually rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.
This expansion has been spurred by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its dependence on imported oil.
The 27 EU nations have signed up to a directive which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
Because it is tough to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' an automobile?
But campaign groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when appetite in the house is still a reality?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been told we need to move since they desire to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had actually been no offer of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over - the federal government has okayed for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last documents.
The business states hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be produced and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the job.
"We wish to protect 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 people. They are extremely pleased for this task. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It the initial 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 actually informed them to validate if the number needs to change and that is why we haven't authorized the task already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative to oil.
The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine just how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would give off between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.
This is partly due to the fact that big quantities of carbon are saved in the forests' plant life and soil but the plantation would mean clearing the land of this greenery.
"The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies since they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying countless local individuals of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most thorough and innovative sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".
Unorthodox approaches
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of brand-new class and pit latrines have just been constructed.
They were part moneyed by the European Union - the very organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents fear might see the school shut down.
"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is bad to develop a class and then send the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need jobs. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your task."
There are plainly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.
Ikea says it will not source jatropha 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 must never ever be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.
The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for standard medication.
If they feel let down by the government and the regional authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox techniques in a bid to keep the land.
"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.
The fate of individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi's community council.
It is not unexpected they are worried.
Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent performance history when it comes to operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya Jatropha Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
