Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being 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 informed the BBC.

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

He is one of the numerous people opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business 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, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.

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

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

This growth has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its dependence on imported oil.

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

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is tough to find 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' an automobile?

But project groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the typically voiceless African communities.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when hunger in your home is still a truth?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the are over - the federal government has actually okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final paperwork.

The company states numerous permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

"We wish to safeguard your houses and the personal home. We will farm around your houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these individuals. They are extremely delighted for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It turned down the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand citing concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify 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 calls for the Dakatcha job to be ditched as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha curcas would give off between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially because large amounts of carbon are stored in the forests' vegetation and soil however the plantation would mean clearing the land of this greenery.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying countless local individuals of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most thorough and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new class and pit latrines have simply been constructed.

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the really organisation which is now implicated of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school closed down.

"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to develop a classroom and after that send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

There are clearly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven company.

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 sustainable energy must never ever be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

The woodlands are also a rich source of material for traditional medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, residents 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 really simple to eliminate him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

The fate of the people here is in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's community council.

It is not surprising they are stressed.

Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent performance history when it pertains to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea