Sierra Leone’s farmers continue to fight multinational land grabs - Equal Times
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In 2011, Socfin Agricultural Company #Sierra_Leone Ltd. (#Socfin SL, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based multinational Socfin, or Société Financière des Caoutchoucs) secured a 50-year lease for 6,500 hectares of prime farmland for rubber and oil palm plantations in the Malen Chiefdom in the Pujehun district of southern Sierra Leone.
Activists say the deal took place between Malen’s Paramount Chief Victor Brima Kebbie, government officials and Socfin, without the proper consultation of the area’s 30 communities, which are home to almost 50,000 inhabitants.
“The project promised local populations full compensation for lost land, development investments, and jobs,” according to the Environmental Justice Atlas.