Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Sitting in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is defiant.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is very important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the many people opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian business has asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich 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 stay out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The area impacted is community 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 nearly a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture seller Ikea. Other companies have rented land for the very same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.
This growth has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has actually set ambitious 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 specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy should be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa affected?
Because it is difficult to find 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' an ?
But campaign groups have actually labelled some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with alarming repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when hunger in the house is still a truth?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we have to move due to the fact that they wish to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had actually been no offer of compensation for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over - the federal government has actually provided the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last paperwork.
The business says hundreds of long-term and thousands of seasonal tasks will be created and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the task.
"We wish to safeguard your houses and the personal property. We will farm around your houses," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.
"We are helping these individuals. They are really delighted for this project. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment guard dog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It denied the initial 50,000-hectare request mentioning 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 validate if the number has to alter which is why we haven't approved the project up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be ditched 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 simply how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would discharge between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.
This is partly since large amounts of carbon are stored in the forests' plants and soil however the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.
"The report shows that EU policies are silly policies because they are not lowering 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 local individuals of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In response, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox approaches
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have simply been constructed.
They were part funded by the European Union - the extremely organisation which is now implicated of pressing policies which locals fear could see the school shut down.
"My concern is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to build a classroom and then send the students away," said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your task."
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 company.
Ikea states it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.
"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable energy must never be at the expenditure of individuals or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a statement.
The forests are also an abundant source of product for standard medicine.
If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, homeowners simply might turn to unconventional methods in a bid to keep the land.
"If all the elders come together for one objective, then it is extremely easy to eliminate him with our medications," said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's community council.
It is not unexpected they are stressed.
Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent track record when it comes to operating in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya Jatropha Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
