Add 'Kenyans Fear Dakatcha Woodlands Biofuel Expansion'

Kenyans-Fear-Dakatcha-Woodlands-Biofuel-Expansion.md

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+<br>Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands [biofuel](https://stocktwits.com/symbol/MNEL) expansion<br>
+<br>23 March 2011<br>
+<br>By Will Ross<br>
+<br>BBC News, Dakatcha<br>
+<br>Sitting in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.<br>
+<br>"We are not going to let this land go even if it implies shedding blood," he told the BBC.<br>
+<br>"Land is very essential to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."<br>
+<br>He is among the lots of individuals opposed to the creation of a large [biofuel](https://www.energy-xprt.com/companies/mission-newenergy-limited-36048) plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.<br>
+<br>It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people as well as globally threatened animal and bird species.<br>
+<br>Ambitious objectives<br>
+<br>An Italian company has asked the authorities for consent to lease 50,000 [hectares](https://www.zonebourse.com/cours/action/MISSION-NEWENERGY-LIMITED-8557641/) there to grow [jatropha curcas](https://www.businessnews.com.au/Company/Mission-NewEnergy), whose seeds are rich in oil that can be become bio-diesel.<br>
+<br>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 dangerous. The area affected is neighborhood land which is being held in trust by the [local council](https://www.abnnewswire.net/companies/en/31347/%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A9%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%97-Mission-NewEnergy-%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94.html/4).<br>
+<br>Kenya [Jatropha](https://www.zoominfo.com/c/mission-newenergy/346542889) Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.<br>
+<br>It has leased almost a million hectares in Africa