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 implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is really important 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 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 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious goals
An Italian company has asked the authorities for approval to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be turned into bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is dangerous. The area affected is community land which is being kept in trust by the local council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually leased nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea. Other business have rented land for the exact same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.
This growth has been spurred by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have actually signed up to an instruction which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy should be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
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 cars and truck?
But project groups have labelled a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the frequently voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car 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 since they want to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had actually been no deal of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the settlements are over - the government has given the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting on now is the last documentation.
The business says numerous long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.
"We desire to safeguard 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 really pleased for this task. 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 pointing out concerns over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the job.
"We were advising 1,000 hectares ... We have actually informed them to validate if the number needs to alter and that is why we have not authorized the job already," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be ditched as brand-new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.
The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would give off in between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partly because big quantities of carbon are saved in the forests' vegetation and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.
"The report shows 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 woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of regional people of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In reaction, the EU Commission safeguarded its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox techniques
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually just been constructed.
They were part funded by the European Union - the very organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which residents fear could see the school closed down.
"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to construct a classroom and after that send the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need jobs. But a farm without a home is not great. You require to have a home before you go to your task."
There are plainly concerns on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven company.
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 energy should never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.
The woodlands are likewise a rich source of product for standard medicine.
If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply may turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.
"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to remove him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a conventional healer, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the people here remains in the hands of the Kenyan federal government and Malindi's municipal council.
It is not unexpected they are fretted.
Kenya's politicians do not have a great performance history when it concerns operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
