Seif Madoffe
4 June 2009
(Page 2 of 3)
With respect to fauna, ORGUT's report states that: 'The project area is potentially rich in wildlife and shares many species with the adjacent Saadani National Park'. The report further states that: 'The area has high diversity of both resident and migratory bird species with composition and abundance of species changing with seasons due to inter-Africa and Palaearctic migrations. The importance of Makurunge area (also in Bagamoyo district) for bird conservation is indicated by the high abundance of birds observed during the EIA survey'. According to the report, many large mammals are found in the area earmarked for the sugarcane plantation: Lion, leopard, cheetah, sable antelope, wild dog, warthog, duiker antelope, Sykes monkey, black and white Colobus monkey, yellow baboon, elephant, hippo, wild pig, buffalo, reedbuck and others. ORGUT's report further states that: 'At least 34 species of mammals occurring in the project area are threatened according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list'.
According to the report, the area in question has been used by local hunters, small-scale farmers and fishermen for at least 1500 years. There are currently 3 villages in the area with a total of close to 6,000 people (probably an underestimate). A large number of pastoralists also live here, with a cattle population of between 10,000 and 50,000. All these will now be forced out and have to find new grazing lands. We consider their population estimates to be on the low side.
The report further states that 'HIV/AIDS prevalence is still minimal'. Later in the report, when discussing the consequences of importing workers from the city to the plantation, it is stated that there will be an 'increase in the risk of communicable diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS) and (decreased) human health due to increased population of workers and social interaction'.
The energy needs of the local people are met almost entirely by firewood. This will of course become more difficult to collect when large areas have been converted into sugarcane plantations. Homes and livelihoods will be destroyed to give way to ethanol production for the European market. The displaced communities will be forced to clear other woodland areas for settlements, farming, fuelwood and grazing. This kind of deforestation is known as 'leakage' in GHG (Green House Gas) terminology, and increases Tanzania's 'C debt' (carbon debt). In addition to this deforestation, organic matter in the soil will also be transformed into carbon dioxide.
All in all, production of biofuels also results in a lot of carbon emissions. Firstly, of course the machinery needed requires a lot of fossil fuel to be produced, transported to Tanzania, to be used in Tanzania. Transport of biofuels to Europe also necessitates the burning of fossil fuel. Secondly, the whole process of producing biofuels involves emission of a lot of GHG. Before harvesting, sugarcane fields are burned to remove litter, leaves, debris, snakes, and rats. This produces not only a lot of CO2, but also other more aggressive GHGs in great amounts. The harvested canes are then pressed and the remaining fibres are burned, producing further GHG. After fermentation, the molasses will most likely be poured out in the Wami River causing a severe pollution problem. The whole process of producing biofuel ethanol this way will cause severe pollution by GHG. Estimates vary (depending on how refined the process might be), but per unit ethanol produced, they range between 17 to 840 times more GHG released into the atmosphere than the amount of GHG that is reduced. Production of biofuels in the way intended by the Swedish company will therefore cause Tanzania to be in a possible carbon debt and thus violate international agreements, such as the Kyoto agreement. Sweden, on the other hand, will be better off because the reduction will happen in Sweden while the increase happens in Tanzania. The actual estimates will depend upon how SEKAB actually practices its use of fuels - they will probably claim to use biofuels to a large extent, but there will still be excessive carbon emission in Tanzania, and 'theory' and 'practice' may not be the same especially when fossil fuel prices are relatively low, as they are now.
The sugarcane plantation will also be fertilised with enormous amounts of artificial fertiliser. Considerable quantities will leak out into the ocean and will influence life in the coral reefs. Poisonous pesticides will also be used which will subsequently seriously affect harmless and beneficial insects, birds, marine organisms, and also impair human health. We need to remind ourselves that this plantation is placed in the middle of a National Park and a Forest reserve and is near the seashore. The estimated amounts mentioned in the ORGUT report - 3,400 tonnes of di-ammonium phosphate and 5,100 tonnes of urea used on the start-up area of 17,000 ha - will influence the surrounding environment considerably. Soil acidification and atmospheric warming due to emitted nitrous oxide gas are serious pollution impacts. As mentioned above, pre-harvest burning of sugarcane will add tons of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. The pollution of the air during sugarcane harvesting in other countries and in similar settings is known to have caused an increase in respiratory health problems among the surrounding communities.
The potential impacts on fisheries along the coast, on the coral reefs and on the whole ecosystem in the adjacent National Park and other areas by an enormous sugar-cane plantation with massive water consumption and leaking of fertiliser and poisonous pesticides have been poorly investigated. If a harbour or pipeline for transporting the ethanol to Sweden is built on the coral reef, it will also add to the negative environmental effects. Reduced fish resources in the polluted water will seriously affect the livelihoods of the fishing communities.
Based on this information, and a lot more throughout ORGUT's report of 155 pages, what would be the conclusion of the Swedish consultant agent? Well, they state: 'Although there are some limited negative environmental implications of the project, the project will have significant socio-economic and environmental benefits to the people surrounding the project, Bagamoyo District and the Nation'. This illogical conclusion is a blatant apologist 'green washing' attempt.
SEKAB reportedly hopes to acquire 400,000 ha for sugar-cane plantations in Tanzania. The prospect of a Swedish corporation owning and controlling so much land for the benefit of rich Swedish investors, with serious deleterious environmental impacts and at the expense of poor rural people in Tanzania smacks strongly of neo-colonialism. When one considers that the total arable land in Tanzania is a mere three million hectares, SEKAB will have control of more than one tenth of the available land. If each of the 20 biofuel projects already scheduled get even half of the land allocated to SEKAB, it is clear that the Tanzanian rural population will be condemned to eke out their livelihoods in the badlands of the country.
At a workshop organised by HakiArdhi with Oxfam in Morogoro last year, the director responsible for energy in Tanzania was asked by participants whether the government had a policy on biofuels. He informed participants that there was no such policy and that his appearance at the workshop was part of efforts to get input towards the formulation of a Biofuels Task Force that would develop such a policy. Everyone present was shocked that the government, through the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), had already allocated massive tracts of land and apparently signed contracts for biofuel production without any policy support. This serious omission is bound to have significant and far-reaching adverse socio-economic impacts on Tanzania, compounded by the environmental impacts identified above. Evidently the assignment of land delivery duties to the TIC without clear policy guidelines on such foreign investments has aggravated the problem. One may also wonder how the biofuels 'bandwagon' fits in to the bigger picture exemplified by the Vision 2025, Mkukuta/Mkuza and Mkurabita strategies for poverty eradication in Tanzania. When TIC and a foreign company have identified a particular area for biofuel production, an application for lease of land has then to be approved by the government. In the case of areas less than 100,000 ha, this may be done at the level of Ministry of lands and human settlement. Larger areas would have to be approved by the president. However, companies may write a series of smaller contracts that add up to a larger total. But areas even very much smaller than 100,000 ha are still very huge indeed and we think it is very unwise to allow one company to control such a big area. It is currently unclear what has actually been approved at the ministry level of the proposed contracts with foreign companies.
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