Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands
biofuel expansion
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 bold.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is very essential to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the many individuals opposed to the development of a large
biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 people along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian company has asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.
Kenya Jatropha 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 provided to the Swedish furnishings merchant Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the very same purpose 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 lowering its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have actually registered to a directive which states that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
Because it is tough to find 50,000 hectares of available land to grow a
biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a car?
But campaign groups have identified a few of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with alarming effects for the typically voiceless African communities.
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 due to the fact that they wish to plant jatropha 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 settlements are over - the
government has okayed for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last documents.
The business says hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal jobs will be created and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.
"We wish to safeguard your houses and the private home. We will farm around the homes," Kenya
jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello
Adriano told the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these individuals. They are very happy for this project. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan government's environment guard dog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the initial 50,000-hectare request pointing out issues over the impact on the environment and the
sustainability of the job.
"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we have not approved the task 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 casts doubt on whether
jatropha curcas is really 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 curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that
jatropha curcas would emit in between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partly due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are kept in the forests' greenery and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.
"The report shows that EU policies are silly policies because they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed
biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local people of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In response, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in 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 simply been constructed.
They were part funded by the European Union - the very organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.
"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is bad to construct a classroom and then send the pupils away," said the deputy head
Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You need to have a home before you go to your job."
There are clearly issues on the ground that as soon as 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 sustainable energy must never ever be at the cost of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.
The woodlands are also a rich source of material for standard medication.
If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, residents simply might turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is very simple to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.
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 fretted.
Kenya's political leaders do not have a great performance history when it comes to working in the interests of
individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya
jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
