Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
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 defiant.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it implies shedding blood," he informed the BBC.
"Land is very important to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the many individuals opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people along with worldwide threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian business has asked the authorities for permission to lease 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 goats stay well away as it is poisonous. The area affected is community 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 almost a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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