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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely important to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is one of the lots of people opposed to the development of a large 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 people in addition to globally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian business has actually asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the regional council.
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually rented almost a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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