Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being 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 indicates shedding blood,” he told the BBC.

“Land is very crucial to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead.”

He is among the many individuals opposed to the production of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour’s drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 people as well as internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for to lease 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 actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals – goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The area impacted is community land which is being kept 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 oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings merchant Ikea. Other business have rented land for the very same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

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

The 27 EU countries have signed up to an instruction which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa affected?

Because it is challenging to find 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.

Why ‘feed’ a vehicle?

But campaign groups have identified a few of the projects in Africa “land grabs” with dire consequences for the typically voiceless African neighborhoods.

Some ask: “Why ‘feed’ a car in Europe when appetite in your home is still a truth?”

“Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we need to move since they desire to plant jatropha here,” stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had actually been no offer of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over – the government has actually okayed for a pilot job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final documents.

The business says numerous permanent and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

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

“We are helping these people. They are extremely delighted for this project. No-one will be moved.”

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment watchdog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand citing concerns over the impact on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

“We were recommending 1,000 hectares … We have told them to justify if the number needs to alter which is why we haven’t approved the job already,” said 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 calls into question 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 curcas job in Kenya’s Dakatcha forests would be.

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

This is partially due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are kept in the forests’ plants and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this plants.

“The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies because they are not decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming,” stated ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

“The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to extinction and depriving countless regional individuals of their livelihoods,” stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

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

Unorthodox approaches

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

They were part moneyed by the European Union – the extremely organisation which is now accused of pushing policies which locals fear might see the school shut down.

“My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to develop a class and then send out the students 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 job.”

There are clearly 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 until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.

“This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource should never be at the expense of individuals or the environment,” Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are also an abundant source of material for traditional medication.

If they feel let down by the federal government and the regional authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox techniques in a bid to keep the land.

“If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to eliminate him with our medications,” stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi’s local council.

It is not unexpected they are stressed.

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

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea