Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Sitting 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 means shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely important to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the many 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 people in addition to worldwide threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian company has asked the authorities for permission to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The location impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings merchant Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.
This expansion has been stimulated by the European Union, which has set ambitious objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have signed up to a directive which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy should be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa affected?
Because it is hard to discover 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' an automobile?
But campaign groups have actually identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire 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 actually been told we need to move since they want to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who included 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 government has provided the green light for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last paperwork.
The company says numerous permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the job.
"We desire to protect your homes and the private property. We will farm around the homes," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these individuals. They are extremely happy for this project. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the initial 50,000-hectare demand pointing out issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.
"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to validate if the number needs to change and that is why we have not authorized the project already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as brand-new research calls into question whether jatropha is truly a greener option to oil.
The anti-poverty project group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine simply how green the jatropha curcas project in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha would emit between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.
This is partly since large amounts of carbon are stored in the woodlands' plant life and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this vegetation.
"The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies due to the fact that they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is announcing," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying countless regional individuals of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In reaction, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and innovative sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox techniques
At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new classrooms and pit latrines have actually just been built.
They were part moneyed by the European Union - the really organisation which is now accused of pushing policies which residents fear could see the school shut down.
"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to develop a classroom and after that send out the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your job."
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 states it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.
"This switch from fossil fuels to eco-friendly energy should never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.
The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of product for standard medicine.
If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, residents simply may turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to remove him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the people here remains in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's municipal council.
It is not surprising they are stressed.
Kenya's politicians do not have a good performance history when it concerns operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya Jatropha Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
