Farmers protested a major wind farm project in Kenya, and they won--the plan is now cancelled.
This may fly in the face of your ideas about environmental sustainability, but it's a complicated story.
The farmers and local landowners in Nyandarua County in central Kenya said the $144 million USD project would force them to sell their land, so they protested against building the wind farm, causing delays in construction and ultimately causing developers to pulling out of the project.
The protests have been going on for nearly two years and cost stakeholders (those invested) $66 million USD dollars.
Many groups including Norway, General Electric and African Infrastructure Investment Managers were invested in building the multi-million dollar Kinangop Wind Park according this article from Reuters.
The project would have brought clean energy to over 150,000 homes, significantly cutting into greenhouse gas emissions, but landowners in the region said they were being displaced in the process.
If you check out 3:00 in the video, you can hear the strong wind in the background but also see that this land is fertile farming land. Which is extremely valuable both in Kenya and globally as arable land becomes increasingly scarce due to extreme weather caused by climate change.
This case highlights the importance of asking local communities what they want prior to development.
It’s a delicate balance between bringing clean energy to developing countries and the negative impact large-scale projects can have on small communities. Consulting local communities should always be the first step in development projects, and, even still, navigating differences in needs and opinions at the grassroots level can be challenging. Respecting and listening to local landowners and making sure landowners understand their rights can help communication between developers, landowners, and farmers.
Much of the anger and frustration from landowners and farmers came from a sense that they were exploited and disenfrancished.
Figuring out land rights and knowing their intricacies is complicated. That’s why providing assistance in the process is important so both landowners and farmers are fully aware of the transaction taking place.
Communities around the world face different challenges when it comes to accessing clean energy. It can be costly and the benefits may be outweighed by the drawbacks in the short term. Making clean energy feasible is essential. It’s not always going to be an easy journey--as illustrated by this recent contest--but it’s one humanity must make.
How do you feel about the cancelling of this project? Share your thoughts in the comments below.