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 suggests shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

"Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."

He is among the lots of people opposed to the development 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 as well as internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, originally from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The location impacted 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 nearly a million hectares in Africa