Sierra Leone

Women gathering in Sierra Leone from African communities affected by oil palm plantations say they want their lands and forests back so that they can have an agriculture that feeds their communities.

In a press conference, UN expert Baskut Tuncak spoke of “numerous claims of land appropriation by Socfin”, a Luxembourg company that produces palm oil in Sierra Leone and is part owned by the French group Bolloré.

Suite à une visite sur le terrain, un expert de l’Onu dénonce la faible protection des droits fonciers des communautés locales face aux multinationales comme la société luxembourgeoise Socfin.

Sierra Leone calls for urgent land audit. In the last five years, 30% of the arable land has gone to large-scale investors.

The World Bank says it had a team of consultants in Sierra Leone in May 2017 to do an assessment of large scale agricultural land acquisitions and that the report is now ready with several recommendations.

New oil plantations grab land and destroy the environment in e.g. Sierra Leone. But there is a fair and environmentally friendly alternative way.

Movimenti locali e ong internazionali accusano aziende del gruppo Socfin di non rispettare i diritti di contadini e comunità. I principali punti critici sono mancanza di dialogo, accaparramento di terre, fiumi inquinati e poco lavoro

Four land rights activists, members of Youth Affected by Socfin Agricultural Company, were freed from the custody of Pujehun Correctional Centre

L’Ong sierra-léonaise Action pour la transparence des acquisitions de terrains à grande échelle (ALLAT) a appelé ce 27 juin 2017 le gouvernement à une prise en considération « sérieuse » des enjeux fonciers afin de prévenir les conflits.

Majority of workers have stopped working on the oil palm plantation until the SOCFIN General Manager addresses concerns raised in the Malen Youth Development Union’s letter dated 20 May 2017.

Sierra Leone's Minister of Agriculture has called for a review of the flawed 50 year land lease agreement signed in 2011 between land owners and Socfin Agriculture Company

Malen Youth Development Union issues second complaint letter to SOCFIN about the grave abuses of workers at its oil palm plantations in Sierra Leone and issues of unfulfilled development promises for locals.