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 defiant.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests 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 numerous individuals opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has asked the authorities for approval to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are 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 stay well away as it is poisonous. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

It has rented almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha curcas oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings retailer Ikea. Other business have actually leased land for the same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, along with in India.

This growth has been spurred by the European Union, which has actually set enthusiastic objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence on imported oil.

The 27 EU countries have registered to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

Because it is difficult to find 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.

Why 'feed' a car?

But campaign groups have labelled some of the projects in Africa "land grabs" with dire effects for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.

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 been informed we need to move due to the fact that they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," stated 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mom of 2, who added 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 actually provided the green light for a pilot job to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final documents.

The company states hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal jobs will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.

"We wish to safeguard your homes and the personal property. We will farm around the houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.

"We are helping these people. They are very delighted for this task. No-one will be moved."

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government's environment guard dog, the offer has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the initial 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 informed them to justify if the number needs to change which is why we haven't authorized the job 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 ditched as brand-new research casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is actually a greener alternative to oil.

The anti-poverty project group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to investigate just how green the jatropha project in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.

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

This is partly due to the fact that large amounts of carbon are kept in the woodlands' plants and soil but the plantation would suggest clearing the land of this vegetation.

"The report shows that EU policies are silly policies since they are not decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," stated ActionAid's Chris Coxon.

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

In response, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most extensive and sophisticated sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world".

Unorthodox techniques

At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of new class and pit latrines have simply been developed.

They were part funded by the European Union - the really organisation which is now accused of pushing policies which residents fear could see the school shut down.

"My concern is the displacement of the community. 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 excellent. You need to have a home before you go to your task."

There are clearly issues on the ground that when the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.

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

"This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy should never ever be at the cost of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.

The forests are likewise a rich source of product for traditional medicine.

If they feel let down by the federal government and the local authorities, residents just might turn to unorthodox methods in a bid to keep the land.

"If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is extremely simple to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a traditional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

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

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea