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 indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the lots of people opposed to the development of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 individuals in addition to internationally threatened animal and bird species.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian business has asked the authorities for approval 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 actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The location impacted is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional 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
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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