Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting 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 extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is among the lots of individuals opposed to the production of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 people in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The location 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 leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other business have leased land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is tough to discover 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 some of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' a vehicle in Europe when hunger in the house is still a reality?"

"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we need to move because they want to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had 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 job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the last documentation.

The company says numerous permanent and countless seasonal tasks will be developed and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the task.

"We desire to secure the houses and the personal residential or commercial property. We will farm around your houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping these people. They are extremely pleased for this job. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's environment guard dog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the initial 50,000-hectare request mentioning concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we have not authorized the task already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as brand-new research study calls into question whether jatropha curcas is truly 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 examine simply how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly because big amounts of carbon are saved in the forests' vegetation and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.

"The report reveals that EU policies are silly policies due to the fact that they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and denying thousands of regional people of their incomes," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU its energy policy as "the most thorough and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox approaches

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several brand-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 shut down.

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

"Yes we require jobs. But a farm without a home is not good. You need to have a home before you go to your job."

There are clearly issues on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace 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 habitats.

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource should never ever be at the cost of individuals or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel pull down by the government and the regional authorities, residents simply may turn to unconventional approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is really easy to eliminate him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not unexpected they are worried.

Kenya's political leaders do not have a good performance history when it comes to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea