Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 defiant.

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

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

He is one of the many individuals 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 individuals as well as globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats remain well away as it is harmful. The area affected is community land which is being held 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 almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

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

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is tough 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 some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the typically voiceless African communities.

Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when cravings at home is still a reality?"

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the government has actually given the green light for a pilot task to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the final documentation.

The company states hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it rejects that anybody will be displaced by the job.

"We want to safeguard your homes and the personal property. We will farm around your houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

"We are assisting these individuals. They are extremely pleased for this project. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare request citing issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the job.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number needs to alter 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 calls for the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as new research casts doubt on 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 study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would release in between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.

This is partially because large quantities of carbon are saved in the woodlands' plant life and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.

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

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving thousands of local people of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most extensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several brand-new class and pit latrines have simply been built.

They were part moneyed by the European Union - the very organisation which is now implicated of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school closed down.

"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is bad to develop a classroom and then send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is not excellent. You require to have a home before you go to your task."

There are plainly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.

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

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

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

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the local authorities, citizens simply may turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.

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

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

It is not surprising they are worried.

Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent track record when it pertains to working in the interests of the individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea