Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

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 suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

He is one of the lots of individuals opposed to the production 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 internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The location affected is community land which is being held in trust by the local council.

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

It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa