Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
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 implies shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is very essential to us. We farm and get our income from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the numerous people opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for authorization to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is toxic. The location affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the local council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has rented nearly a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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