Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

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 extremely crucial 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 creation of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour’s drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people along with globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has asked the authorities for authorization to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals – goats remain well away as it is harmful. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

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

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

The 27 EU countries have actually signed up to a regulation which states that by 2020, 20% of energy should be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is difficult to discover 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why ‚feed‘ a vehicle?

But project groups have actually identified some of the tasks in Africa „land grabs“ with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African communities.

Some ask: „Why ‚feed‘ a car in Europe when cravings at home is still a truth?“

„Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been told we need to move because they wish to plant jatropha curcas here,“ stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no deal of compensation for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over – the federal government has actually given the green light for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final documentation.

The company says hundreds of irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the task.

„We desire to secure the houses and the personal property. We will farm around the houses,“ Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

„We are helping these people. They are very pleased for this project. No-one will be moved.“

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment watchdog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It turned down the initial 50,000-hectare request citing concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

„We were advising 1,000 hectares … We have actually informed them to justify if the number has to change which is why we have not approved the project already,“ stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha 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 examine just how green the jatropha job in Kenya’s Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partly since big quantities of carbon are saved in the forests‘ plant life and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this vegetation.

„The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies since they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring,“ stated ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

„The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local people of their incomes,“ said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as „the most extensive and innovative sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world“.

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have just been developed.

They were part funded by the European Union – the really organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.

„My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to develop a classroom and after that send out the pupils away,“ said 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 plainly concerns on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.

Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya till it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.

„This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy must never be at the expenditure of individuals or the environment,“ Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are also an abundant source of product for standard medication.

If they feel let down by the federal government and the local authorities, residents simply may turn to unorthodox approaches in a bid to keep the land.

„If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medications,“ said Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of individuals 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 a good performance history when it pertains to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea