Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

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 bold.

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

"Land is very important to us. We farm and get our livelihood 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 area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 people along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious goals

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

This plant, originally 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 area impacted is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.

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

It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa