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 defiant.

"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 numerous people opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally from South America, has actually 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 kept in trust by the regional council.

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

It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa