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 is defiant.

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

"Land is really essential to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is one of the lots of people opposed to the development of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 individuals along with worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has asked the authorities for consent to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich 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 keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The location impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture seller Ikea. Other business have actually rented land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This expansion has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its dependence on imported oil.

The 27 EU countries have signed up to a regulation which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy must 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 vehicle?

But campaign groups have actually identified a few of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

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

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the government has actually provided the green light for a pilot job to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the final documents.

The business says hundreds of long-term and thousands of seasonal tasks will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

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

"We are assisting these people. They are really delighted for this project. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has not yet been sealed. It turned down the initial 50,000-hectare request citing concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the task.

"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we haven't approved the task up to now," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as new research study calls into question whether jatropha is actually a greener alternative 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 task in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partially because big quantities of carbon are stored in the forests' plants and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.

"The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies since they are not minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

"The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the forests, driving the worldwide threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and depriving thousands of local people of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most detailed and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels anywhere in the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni main school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new class and pit latrines have just been constructed.

They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now implicated of pressing policies which residents fear might see the school closed down.

"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not great to construct a classroom and then send the students away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

"Yes we need jobs. But a farm without a home is bad. You need to have a home before you go to your job."

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

Ikea states it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural habitats.

"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to eco-friendly energy should never ever be at the expense of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are also a rich source of product for standard medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the local authorities, citizens just might turn to unconventional approaches in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is really easy to eliminate him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.

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

It is not surprising they are fretted.

Kenya's politicians do not have a great track record when it pertains to operating in the interests of individuals.

ActionAid

Kenya jatropha curcas Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea