Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

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 bold.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it implies shedding blood," he told the BBC.

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

He is among the many people opposed to the production 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 people as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for approval to lease 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 long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay 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 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 furnishings retailer Ikea. Other business have actually rented land for the very same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This expansion has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has set ambitious objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing its dependence on imported oil.

The 27 EU nations have registered to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is challenging 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 effects for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a vehicle in Europe when cravings in your home is still a reality?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we have to move because they desire to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who included that there had been no deal of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

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

The company says numerous irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.

"We want to safeguard your 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 extremely pleased for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to change and that is why we haven't authorized the project up to now," 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 study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is actually a greener option to oil.

The anti-poverty campaign 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 forests would be.

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

This is partially due to the fact that large amounts of carbon are stored in the forests' greenery and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this vegetation.

"The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that 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 termination and depriving countless regional people of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of new class and pit latrines have just been built.

They were part funded by the European Union - the really organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school shut down.

"My worry is the displacement of the community. It is bad to build a classroom and after that send the pupils away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

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

There are clearly concerns on the ground that once 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 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 resource need to never be at the expenditure of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are also an abundant source of product for conventional medication.

If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, citizens simply might turn to unconventional approaches in a quote to keep the land.

"If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is really easy to remove him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of the individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's municipal council.

It is not surprising they are worried.

Kenya's politicians do not have a great performance history when it concerns working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea