Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Being 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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is very essential 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 development of a big biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is an arid location and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious goals
An Italian company has asked the authorities for permission to lease 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are rich in oil that can be turned 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 location affected is community 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 rented almost a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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