Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

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

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

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 people along with worldwide threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

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

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

It has leased almost a million hectares in Africa