Kenyans fear biofuel expansion
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 defiant.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it implies 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 among the many people opposed to the development of a big 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 along with globally 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 curcas, 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 keep out animals - goats remain well away as it is dangerous. The area impacted is neighborhood 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 actually rented nearly a million hectares in Africa
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Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion
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