Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Sitting in the shade of a tree next to 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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.

"Land is very important to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."

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

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to globally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

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

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

It has leased almost a million hectares in Africa