The biofuels landgrab in Kenya
By Eric Odada, ESPA Programme Framework Project PI
In its edition on July 2nd, The Guardian newspaper in the UK featured an article with the headline ‘Biofuels Landgrab in Kenya’s Tana Delta Fuels Talk of War’. The article was prompted by the moves which are afoot for the large-scale development of biofuel plantations, driven by global demand, that will displace communities and divert water flows.
Villagers’ stories make it clear that these projects would devastate the social fabric and livelihoods of communities in the Delta and destroy unique wetland and floodplain ecosystems.
The Tana River Basin encompasses 126,028 km2 in the eastern part of Kenya, an area currently suffering from extreme drought. It supports a population of approximately 15 million people, with 10 million living within the basin.
In the lower catchment, irrigated agriculture is practiced on the river’s riparian land. Flood recession farming is practiced on the rivers floodplains.
The Tana Delta is a key ecological resource. It is a source of fish for the local communities, a lifeline for the coastal agricultural community and a source of pasture for the pastoralists during the dry seasons. It is also an important habitat for some endangered species of birds, monkeys and fish.
I fear that with the land and water grab for biofuels local communities and wildlife are condemned to extinction. The ESPA Science Community can help to produce the scientific evidence to support more rational decisions that protect the livelihoods of the poor.
ESPA science can make a big difference to situations like this – by generating solid evidence describing the costs for local communities resulting from the degradation of ecosystem services associated with large scale developments such as the growth of biofuel crops or large infrastructure projects.
ESPA’s researchers need to make sure that their research then makes an impact by getting into the media and onto the desks of decision makers.
You can read the article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/02/biofuels-land-grab-kenya-delta?intcmp=122
