By Clementine Osodo.
Residents in Kenya's Coastal Dakatcha Woodlands are now opposing the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the area. The plantation is about an hour's drive inland from Malindi town.
The residents now vow that they are not going to let their land go even if it means shedding blood. They say they get their livelihood from the land since they farm on it and consequently they bury their dead kinsmen on the land hence affirming that it is very important to them. The land in question is an arid area and home to some 20,000 people. It is a community land being held in trust by the local council.
The Opposition came about as a result of an Italian company Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd, asking the authorities for permission to lease 50,000 hectares at the Dakatcha woodlands to grow jatropha, a plant whose seeds are rich in oil which is turned into bio-diesel.
The plant which originated from South America is poisonous to animals and has long been planted in Africa as a hedge fence to keep the animals especially goats away.
Residents of Dakatcha woodlands say they have been told to move because jatropha is to be planted on the land. They however cry foul that there had been no offer of compensation for leaving their homes.
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd on the other hand says that the negotiations are over and the government has given a green light for a pilot project which is to start with ten thousand hectares adding that all they are waiting for is the final documentation. The company says thousands of job opportunities will be created denying anyone will be displaced by the project.
On the other hand the Kenyan government's environment watchdog says the deal is not yet sealed. The initial 50,000-hectare request was turned down citing concerns over the impact of the plantation on the environment and the sustainability of the project. Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) said that they were recommending one thousand hectares and have instructed Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd to justify if the number has to change citing that as the reason to why they have not approved the project.
There are fresh calls for the Dakatcha project to be done away with since new research is on crossroads whether jatropha is really a greener alternative to oil or not.
The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report for investigatigations to be done and find out just how green the jatropha project in the Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be. The, a consultancy firm found out that jatropha emits between two and a half and six times more greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuels. This is partly as a result of large amounts of carbon being stored in the woodlands' vegetation and soil. The plantation would hence mean clearing the land of this vegetation.
It has also been noted that the proposed biofuel plantation will devastate the woodlands, driving the globally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving thousands of local people of their livelihoods
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd which is fully owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL has leased almost a million hectares in Africa with other subordinate companies having leased land for the same purpose in Senegal, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana. Jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is already in supply to the Swedish furniture retailer known as Ikea.
Clear concerns are being raised on the ground that once the lease is finally signed then the twenty thousand residents of Dakatcha will be at the mercy of Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd.
IKEA however asserts that it will not source jatropha oil from Kenya until it is sure that the project will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats. IKEA added in its statement that the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy must never be at the expense of people or the environment.
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