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 defiant.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the lots of individuals opposed to the creation 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 worldwide threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious goals
An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is harmful. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually rented almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture seller Ikea. Other companies have actually rented land for the exact same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.
This growth has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has set ambitious goals for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have registered to a regulation which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
Because it is hard to find 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a cars and truck?
But project groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire consequences for the often voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when appetite in the house is still a truth?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we have to move because they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had actually been no offer of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over - the government has actually provided the green light for a pilot project to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last documents.
The company says hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.
"We desire to protect your homes and the personal residential or commercial property. We will farm around your houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these people. They are really happy for this project. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan government's environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the initial 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.
"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number needs to alter 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 require the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as brand-new research study 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 job in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha curcas would give off in between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partially since big amounts of carbon are saved in the woodlands' vegetation and soil but the plantation would mean clearing the land of this vegetation.
"The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies since they are not minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is announcing," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying thousands of regional individuals of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In action, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox methods
At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of new classrooms and pit latrines have actually just been built.
They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now accused of pushing policies which residents fear could see the school shut down.
"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not great to develop a classroom and after that send out the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we require 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 when 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 until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.
"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy must never be at the cost 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 government and the local authorities, citizens simply may turn to unorthodox methods in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is very simple to eliminate him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, 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 community council.
It is not unexpected they are fretted.
Kenya's politicians do not have a great track record when it concerns operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
