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 implies 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 numerous people opposed to the creation of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the of Malindi.

It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

An Italian company has asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become 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 dangerous. The location affected is community land which is being held in trust by the regional council.

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

It has actually leased practically a million hectares in Africa