Sierra Leone

Malen Affected Land Owners and Users Association leader says the entire chiefdom is under siege to SOCFIN, a Belgian company that has invested in oil palm plantations in southern Sierra Leone.

A caravan of 200 women was stopped by police on their way to Pujehun to urge local authorities to take action against the Luxembourg-based oil palm plantation company SOCFIN for grabbing their lands and committing other related human rights abuses.

Le 21 septembre 2017, la police a empêché 150 à 200 femmes de se rendre à Pujehun, en Sierra Leone, en vue d’exhorter les autorités locales à prendre des mesures contre la société SOCFIN.

There is a large gap between SOCFIN's “responsible management” policy and the reality of violence and destruction around its plantations, where, with the complicity of national governments, the company attempts to suppress people’s resistance.

This study highlights the role of European Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in possible land grabs and questionable forestry projects in Africa.

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