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 defiant.

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

"Land is really 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 development of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

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

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is harmful. The area impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

It has actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa