Jatropha Plans for Tana Delta

KENYA - A Canadian company is looking to invest in Kenya to grow jatropha for biofuels.

Bedford Biofuels wants to plant the crop in the Tana Delta according to a report in the African Businesss Daily.

If the company can get the go ahead for the project, the report says it expects to be producing biodiesel within the next four years.

Bedford has already started acquiring ranches in the area - some of which have been lying idle - and planting jatropha for the $300 million project.

Many of the ranches were used for livestock, but the Business Daily says that the cattle have largely died on many of the farms.

However, it says that some of the farmers are uncertain about the deal to lease the farms to the biofuel company for about a dollar per hectare per year.