Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
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 bold.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is very crucial to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the lots of 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 area and home to some 20,000 people in addition to worldwide threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious goals
An Italian company has asked the authorities for consent to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant 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 stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The location impacted 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 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 actually leased land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.
This expansion has been stimulated by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its reliance on imported oil.
The 27 EU countries have actually registered to a directive which mentions that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa affected?
Because it is hard to discover 50,000 hectares of offered 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 jobs in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the often voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when cravings in your home is still a truth?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been informed we need to move because they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added that there had been no deal of compensation for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd states the negotiations are over - the federal 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 final documentation.
The company states numerous long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be developed and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the job.
"We desire to protect your homes and the personal property. We will farm around the homes," Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these individuals. They are extremely delighted for this task. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the preliminary 50,000-hectare demand pointing out concerns over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.
"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to validate if the number has to change 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 ditched as new research casts doubt on 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 examine just how green the jatropha job in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external discovered that jatropha curcas would give off between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.
This is partly since big quantities of carbon are saved in the forests' vegetation and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.
"The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that they are not minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is announcing," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying thousands of regional people of their livelihoods," stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox approaches
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, numerous brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually simply been built.
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 closed down.
"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not great to construct a class and then send out the students away," stated 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 task."
There are clearly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven company.
Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya till it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.
"This switch from nonrenewable fuel sources to renewable resource must never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a statement.
The woodlands are likewise a rich source of material for conventional medication.
If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners just may turn to unorthodox methods in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is extremely easy to eliminate him with our medicines," said Barova Kiribai, a standard therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of the people here remains in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's municipal council.
It is not surprising they are stressed.
Kenya's politicians do not have an excellent track record when it concerns working in the interests of individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya Jatropha Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
