Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
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 extremely crucial to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the lots of individuals opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious goals
An Italian company has asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant 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 remain well away as it is dangerous. The area affected 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 rented nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furnishings retailer Ikea. Other business have actually rented land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.
This growth has been stimulated by the European Union, which has actually set ambitious objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU nations have signed up 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 discover 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a cars and truck?
But campaign groups have labelled a few of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a cars and truck in Europe when appetite in your home is still a reality?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we need to move since they want to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had been no deal of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the government has actually okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final documents.
The company says numerous irreversible and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the project.
"We wish to protect your houses 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 people. They are really pleased for this job. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare request citing issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.
"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to justify if the number has to alter and that is why we haven't authorized the job already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be scrapped as brand-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 investigate just how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha curcas would emit in between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.
This is partly since large amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' vegetation and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.
"The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies since they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local individuals of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In action, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".
Unorthodox approaches
At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have just been developed.
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 concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to build a class and then send the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is not great. 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 mercy of a profit-driven business.
Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural environments.
"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy should never ever be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.
The forests are also an abundant source of product for standard medication.
If they feel pull down by the federal government and the local authorities, citizens just may turn to unconventional methods in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is really simple to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi's municipal council.
It is not unexpected they are worried.
Kenya's politicians do not have an excellent performance history when it comes to operating in the interests of the individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
