Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA) together with Mumias Sugar Company Ltd (MSCL) came into an agreement to undertake sugarcane growing and ethanol production in the Tana Delta on 20,000 ha of the 40,000 ha land owned by TARDA. An EIA study was done for the project but it received major opposition from environmentalists. Nevertheless an EIA license was given in June 2008. A court case put an injunction on this project, but the case was thrown out on a technicality in June 2009. While the court injunction was still in force, in April 2009, TARDA were given a title for 40,000 ha of land in Tana Delta, on which the authority decided to grow maize and rice because Kenya was facing a food emergency as a result of the drought. Local communities including farmers and pastoralists were evicted from the area to give way for the agricultural developments. In August 2010, a new court case was filed by representatives of Tana Delta local communities in the Kenyan High Court. A first hearing was held though no injunction was granted due to the need for amendment and wide advertisement before the consideration of the request for such an order. The court case was widely covered in the Kenyan media and a court hearing to consider the injunction was scheduled for December 2010. The case has been postponed severally since then and is scheduled for hearing in mid September 2012. Plans were still under way to implement the sugar project by TARDA and MSCL but a court decision in 2013 stopped the project. The Tana River Delta is one of the most important wetlands in Africa. It supports over 350 species of birds, the core Delta area covers 130,000ha and is a rich mix of habitats supporting thousands of wetland birds as well as hippos, lions, elephants, buffaloes and numerous breeding fish and amphibians. Such agricultural developments would lead to loss of habitat for these species as well as loss of livelihoods for the local communities who depend on it for farming and pastoralism. The Tana River Delta is one of the most important wetlands in Africa. It supports over 350 species of birds, the core Delta area covers 130,000ha and is a rich mix of habitats supporting thousands of wetland birds as well as hippos, lions, elephants, buffaloes and numerous breeding fish and amphibians. Such agricultural developments would lead to loss of habitat for these species as well as loss of livelihoods for the local communities who depend on it for farming and pastoralism. The farmers are mainly Pokomo, and the pastoralists are Orma. There are clashes between Pokomo and Orma, as so often happens between farmers and pastoralists elsewhere. The Tana Delta comprises riverine forests, wetlands and rangelands and is home to a range of indigenous pastoralist, farmer and fisher communities, whose traditional multi-user livelihood strategies have helped preserve exceptional local biodiversity. Numerous development projects focussing on plantation crops, primarily fuel crops such as Jatropha, oil seeds, and sugarcane. Titanium mining and gas and oil exploration have also targeted the region. Of these, sugarcane represents the largest area with projects that were planned (although many now defunct) such as the Tarda project (20,000 ha), MAT International (110,000 ha) and another from Kwale International Sugar Company Limited (Kiscol) of 8,000 ha. Following a court ruling in 2013, all projects were put on hold pending a planned Master Land Use Plan for the Delta that resulted in large part through the advocacy of Nature Kenya and other organized opposition. The Master Land Use Plan was finalized in 2014 and calls for a hybrid zoning strategy, but later there were no further news of these projects being reinitiated. By 2016 the TARDA-Mumias project was discarded. (See less) |
TARDA and the Mumias Sugar Co. wanted to farm sugar cane for local consumption in Kenya and for export (ethanol) in 40,000 ha. An alliance of pastoralists and conservationists stopped the project.
Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA) together with Mumias Sugar Company Ltd (MSCL) came into an agreement to undertake sugarcane growing and ethanol production in the Tana Delta on 20,000 ha of the 40,000 ha land owned by TARDA. |
| Name of conflict: | Tarda agricultural farming in Tana River Delta , Kenya |
| Country: | Kenya |
| State or province: | Coast Province |
| Location of conflict: | Tana River District |
| Accuracy of location | LOW (Country level) |
| Type of conflict. 1st level: | Biodiversity conservation conflicts |
| Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Intensive food production (monoculture and livestock) Wetlands and coastal zone management Agro-fuels and biomass energy plants Other Land acquisition conflicts |
| Specific commodities: | Land Sugar Ethanol Rice Corn/Maize |
| Project details | TARDA and the Mumias Sugar Co. wanted to farm sugar cane for local consumption in Kenya and for export in 40,000 ha. TARDA had earlier initiated rice and maize farming on the land as a response to Kenyas drought and food shortage, which failed. |
| Project area: | 20,000 |
| Type of population | Rural |
| Start of the conflict: | 12/2007 |
| Company names or state enterprises: | Mumias Sugar Company Ltd from Kenya |
| Relevant government actors: | Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA); -The Ministry of Water and Irrigation;, Water Resources Management Authority;, National Environment Management Authority;, Ministry of Agriculture;, Kenya Forest Service;, Kenya Wildlife Service. |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | East African Wild Life Society;, Nature Kenya;, Kenya Wetlands Forum;, Kenya Forests Working Group;, Tana Delta Conservation Organization;, Wema-Ngatana Farmers Cooperative Society;, Lower Tana Delta Conservation Trust;, Tana Delta Pastoralists Initiative;, ARocha Kenya;, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds;, BirdLife international, Action Aid;, DFID UKAid. |
| Intensity | MEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization) |
| Reaction stage | PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase) |
| Groups mobilizing: | Farmers Indigenous groups or traditional communities International ejos Local ejos Neighbours/citizens/communities Pastoralists Local scientists/professionals Fisher people |
| Forms of mobilization: | Development of a network/collective action Involvement of national and international NGOs Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism Media based activism/alternative media Objections to the EIA Official complaint letters and petitions |
| Environmental Impacts | Potential: Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Food insecurity (crop damage), Global warming, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity |
| Health Impacts | Potential: Malnutrition |
| Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Displacement, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place Potential: Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of livelihood, Violations of human rights |
| Project Status | Stopped |
| Conflict outcome / response: | Migration/displacement Repression Under negotiation Project cancelled |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | Yes |
| Briefly explain: | Though 32 villages are still settled in the land, the project was still in operation in advanced planning in 2012 although it was later stopped. by a court decision in 2013. In 2016 the project was discarded: the alliance between pastoralists and Kenyan and foreign conservationists had been successful. |
| Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc) |
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| References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries |
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| Contributor: | Serah Munguti |
| Last update | 24/08/2019 |
| Conflict ID: | 26 |