Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel expansion

23 March 2011

By Will Ross

BBC News, Dakatcha

Being in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is defiant.

"We are not going to let this land go even if it implies shedding blood," he informed 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 among the many people opposed to the production of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.

It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 individuals along with internationally threatened animal and bird species.

Ambitious goals

An Italian company has actually asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha curcas, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be turned into 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 toxic. The location impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the local council.

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

It has leased nearly a million hectares in Africa