Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion

Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

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 income from it. On this land we bury our dead.”

He is among the numerous individuals opposed to the production of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour’s drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

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

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals – goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.

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

It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being supplied to the Swedish furniture merchant Ikea. Other business have rented land for the same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.

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

The 27 EU nations have actually registered to a directive which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy ought to be from sustainable sources, external.

Why is Africa impacted?

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

Why ‘feed’ a vehicle?

But campaign groups have actually identified a few of the tasks in Africa “land grabs” with dire effects for the typically voiceless African communities.

Some ask: “Why ‘feed’ a vehicle in Europe when appetite in the house is still a truth?”

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

Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over – the government has okayed for a pilot project to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final documentation.

The company states hundreds of irreversible and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.

“We wish to secure your houses and the private residential or commercial property. We will farm around your houses,” Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.

“We are helping these people. They are extremely happy for this job. No-one will be moved.”

How green are biofuels?

According to the Kenyan government’s environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It refused the initial 50,000-hectare demand 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 needs to change which is why we haven’t authorized the job already,” stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

However, there are now fresh require the Dakatcha task to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha is really a greener option 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 forests would be.

The research study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha curcas would discharge between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to nonrenewable fuel sources.

This is partially due to the fact that large amounts of carbon are saved in the forests’ plants and soil but the plantation would mean clearing the land of this plants.

“The report shows that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that they are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming,” said ActionAid’s Chris Coxon.

“The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke’s Weaver bird to extinction and denying countless local individuals of their livelihoods,” stated Helen Byron of the RSPB.

In reaction, the EU Commission protected its energy policy as “the most detailed and innovative sustainability plan for biofuels throughout the world”.

Unorthodox techniques

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

They were part moneyed by the European Union – the really 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 bad to develop a class and after that send the students away,” stated 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 clearly issues on the ground that once the lease is signed, the population will be at the grace of a profit-driven business.

Ikea says it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not add to the of natural environments.

“This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy should never be at the cost of people or the environment,” Ikea told the BBC in a statement.

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

If they feel pull down by the government and the local authorities, residents simply may turn to unorthodox techniques in a quote to keep the land.

“If all the elders come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medications,” stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.

The fate of individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan federal 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 the people.

ActionAid

Kenya Jatropha Energy

RSPB

Nema

Ikea