Yet another account of the damaging
effects of foreign companies acquiring land in other countries with
the single aim of accumulating profits. The oft-repeated claim of
great swathes of 'unused land' is again here just not true. Also note
that whilst 70% of Sierra Leone's population survives on less than $2
a day (below the national poverty line), the country's smallholder
farmers account for nearly 50% of GDP.
Whilst ALLAT and other similar
benevolent alliances and associations work extremely hard to reveal
the truth and make great efforts to minimalise the negative outcomes
on local populations and their livelihoods and environments,
unfortunately the best they can hope for is to ameliorate some of the
effects of the entrenched capitalist system wreaking havoc around the
globe. Righting the wrongs such as we read of here can only be
achieved by complete system change. JS
Sierra Leone land grabs increase
poverty and hunger says ALLAT Action for Large Scale Land Acquisition
Transparency (ALLAT)
Media Release 26 July 2013
The rush for farmland by foreign
investors engaged in industrial-scale plantation agriculture in
Sierra Leone has increased poverty and food shortages among
communities who have lost their access to land, the report launched
by ALLAT reveals. The report estimates that one fifth of the
country’s arable land has been leased since 2009 for industrial
farming purposes, many of them for producing biofuels from crops such
as oil palm and sugar cane.
A report launched today, ‘Who Is
Benefitting?' (pdf) examines the impact on local communities of large
land leases held by three investors. The research was commissioned by
Action for Large scale Land Acquisition Transparency, with support
from ALLAT’s development partners. ALLAT views that government
contracts on lease hold for up to 99 years with industrial scale
agro- investors, is too long. The acquisition of these leases must be
more transparent adhering to the principles of free prior and
informed consent and should respect the country’s laws. The
government and companies must pay cognizance to international
guidelines including international human rights laws that emphasise
the protection of local people and the environment.
ALLAT is also worried about the tax
breaks offered to foreign companies to persuade them to invest. ALLAT
believes that Sierra Leone is losing many millions of dollars each
year in revenue. For instance tax breaks enjoyed by two of SLCGG the
leaseholders, Addax Bioenergy (SL) Ltd, and Socfin Agricultural
Company Ltd, along with a third company, Goldtree Ltd, reveal that an
estimated total of US$18.8million a year is lost in revenue to the
government in respect of just those three deals.
One problem identified by Joseph Rahall
of Green Scenery, a member organisation of ALLAT, is the government’s
claim that just 11-15 per cent of the country’s arable land is
being ‘used’ and that there is plenty of room for foreign
investors. ‘This claim ignores from the debate the farming system
practiced in Sierra Leone showing the lack of understanding of the
way the country’s smallholder farmers, who account for nearly 50%
of Sierra Leone’s GDP, use the land,’ he asserts.
Frank Williams, ALLAT’s Coordinator,
observed that ‘communities in the three impact areas investigated
reported increased levels of poverty, poorer and fewer meals eaten
each day, children, especially girls, are taken out of school and
increased incidents of social ills such as teenage pregnancy, broken
marriages and theft.’ In all three lease areas, local people said
they would not have agreed to the land deals were it not for promises
made to them about jobs, and the building of roads, along with
improved health and education facilities, electricity, and water
wells. These had not been fulfilled to their expectations, with the
companies maintaining that they need to start full production and
receive returns on their investment before they can create all the
jobs that have been promised.
Sierra Leone, which is struggling to
rebuild after a lengthy civil war, ranks among the world’s least
developed countries, at 180th of 187 nations on the 2011 United
Nations’ Human Development Index. Life expectancy at birth is 47.8
years, under-five mortality is one of the highest in the world at 192
per 1,000 live births, and adult literacy is about 41%. In total,
some 70% of its population of about 5.5 million falls below the
national poverty line of US$2 a day. ALLAT believes that these
figures can change if as a country we pay particular attention to the
governance of our natural resources and design cohesive and
comprehensive national development agenda.
The Agenda for Prosperity is a launch
pad for the progress of the country but it should carefully navigate
development paradigms that hurt our nation. The leases examined are
held by Addax Bioenergy (SL) Ltd, Sierra Leone Agriculture and Socfin
Agricultural Company Ltd.
From the findings of this report ALLAT
therefore calls for the following actions by government:
• A moratorium on further large scale
land investments including those in the pipeline until existing
concerns raised by various stakeholders are addressed,
• A review of all existing contracts,
ensuring that they adhere to the UN FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the
Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in
the context of National Food Security,
• Develop environmental regulation
that will guide and regulate how industrial scale agricultural
businesses should carry out their operations.
• Reviewed Tax incentives to allow
for revenue to be generated by the government from the investments.
• Undertake a land use plan that will
help Sierra Leone attain sustainable land management; this should
include a land cadastre.
- See more here.
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