Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

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 implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.

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

He is among the many 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 along with globally threatened animal and bird types.

Ambitious objectives

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

This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The area impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.

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

It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa