Proposed sugar projects for the delta

'ecological desert' - environmental impact assessment - cost benefit analysis

Blurred palm fronds

The Tana River Delta is under serious threat of destruction. Two proposed sugar plantation developments by Mumias Sugar and Mat International together will convert an area of over 110,000ha (270,000 acres – nearly three times the size of Amboseli National Park, x18 the size of Lake Nakuru National Park and almost 1.5 times the area of Shenandoah National Park in the USA) into sugarcane plantations. This will have very significant environmental and social impacts on the area with the plantations stretching right into the heart of the main wetland area.

River deltas are known for being fragile, dynamic and extremely rich and important wetland systems, flooding in times of good rain and later drying out again. Any small amount of playing with the hydrological systems will upset the delicate natural balance and wreak havoc on the ecosystem. To put sugar plantations right into the heart of the Tana Delta will spell the end of the delta.

'Ecological desert'

Sugar plantations are widely known as ‘ecological deserts’ supporting next to no forms of wildlife other than a few snakes and rats. The effluent and pollution from the processing plants is highly damaging to water quality and anything using the water (fish, amphibians, human population) as can be seen at already existing sugar processing plants in western Kenya, and the impact will be highly significant by the many 1,000s of workers (Mat International is claiming it will provide 40,000 jobs), their families and all the others who will be needed to service the labourers. Such a huge population will all need food, water and somewhere to rid their sewage and rubbish for which little provision or planning is being made. Furthermore, whilst promising so many jobs, from experience, the vast majority of those jobs will go to migrant labour brought or attracted in to the area and few local community members will benefit.

It will be a regional natural disaster if this development is allowed to go ahead the way it is currently planned.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the sugar project

An EIA was produced for the Mumias project for NEMA (National Environment Management Authority) who are the ones to approve or disapprove a licence for the project. The EIA has been carefully gone through and is considered by most who have looked at it to be severely lacking in many ways being particularly biased towards the project, inaccurate in many aspects, lacking in any realistic conclusions regarding the actual impacts the project will have on the local society and environment. The local community living in the delta, represented by the Lower Tana River Delta Conservation Trust amongst others, are fighting it hard supported ably by EAWLS and the Kenya Wetlands Forum and need all the support they can get.

The EIA, plus the comments collected by the Kenya Wetlands Forum and RSPB/Birdlife International can all be downloaded from the links below.  Due to its size, the EIA has been divided into seven sections.

Cost Benefit Analysis by Nature Kenya

Nature Kenya have performed a Cost Benefit Analysis of the delta and sugar project.  To download a copy of either the full report or the executive summary, please click on the links below.

CBA Full Report (June2008) (application/pdf, 1.1 MB, info)
CBA Executive Summary (June 2008) (application/pdf, 91.9 kB, info)

Comments (0)