Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being 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 means shedding blood,” he informed the BBC.

“Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead.”

He is among the numerous people opposed to the development of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour’s drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 people in addition to worldwide threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian business has asked the authorities for approval to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals – goats remain well away as it is toxic. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being held 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 rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other business have leased land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.

This expansion has actually been spurred by the European Union, which has actually set ambitious goals for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence 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 challenging to discover 50,000 hectares of offered land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why ‘feed’ an automobile?

But campaign groups have labelled some of the tasks in Africa “land grabs” with dire repercussions for the frequently voiceless African communities.

Some ask: “Why ‘feed’ a cars and truck in Europe when hunger in your home is still a truth?”

“Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been informed we have to move because they want to plant jatropha here,” stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who included that there had 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 okayed for a pilot project to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is waiting for now is the last paperwork.

The company says numerous long-term and thousands of seasonal jobs will be developed and it denies that anybody will be displaced by the job.

“We wish to secure your 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 extremely happy for this project. No-one will be moved.”

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment watchdog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It rejected the 50,000-hectare request mentioning issues over the effect on the environment and the sustainability of the project.

“We were suggesting 1,000 hectares … We have informed them to justify if the number needs to change which is why we have not authorized the project up to now,” said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha job to be scrapped as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha 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 simply how green the jatropha curcas job in Kenya’s Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partially due to the fact that large amounts of carbon are saved in the woodlands’ plant life and soil but the plantation would imply clearing the land of this greenery.

“The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies because they are not lowering greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring,” stated ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

“The proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to termination and depriving countless regional people of their livelihoods,” stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as “the most comprehensive and innovative 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 brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have actually just been developed.

They were part moneyed by the European Union – the extremely organisation which is now accused of pressing policies which locals fear might see the school closed down.

“My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is not excellent to develop a class and then send the pupils away,” said the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.

“Yes we require tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your job.”

There are plainly issues on the ground that when 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 until 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 ever be at the expense of individuals or the environment,” Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The woodlands are also a rich source of material for traditional medication.

If they feel pull down by the federal government and the regional authorities, homeowners simply may turn to unorthodox approaches in a quote to keep the land.

“If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is extremely easy 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 individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan federal 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 pertains to working in the interests of the people.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea