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 crucial to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is one of the numerous 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 an arid area and home to some 20,000 individuals along with worldwide threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for consent to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.

This plant, 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 location 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 almost a million hectares in Africa