Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.

"Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is one of the lots of people opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry location and home to some 20,000 individuals along with worldwide threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for approval to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be developed into bio-diesel.

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is toxic. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.

Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.

It has actually leased nearly a million hectares in Africa