Palm oil, poverty and ‘imperialism’: A reality check from Liberia
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23929-palm-oil-poverty-and-imperialism-a-reality-check-from-liberia
Porritt’s notion is that poor countries like mine (Liberia) are being held hostage to what he calls ‘eco-imperialists’ - rich country environmentalists who put pressure on developing countries not to cut down their rainforests, thus keeping us poor. His Forum for the Future charity instead suggests that promoting palm oil, a primary driver of deforestation, is a possible solution to poverty.
As Director of Liberia’s Sustainable Development Institute I have seen up-close the true impact of palm oil, and I can tell you it is more often the problem, not the solution. When Liberia opened up to investment after a devastating civil war, the government struck land deals with companies without the consent of the people who lived on the land, and many communities received a pittance in return for it. In rural parts of Liberia, communities complain that their food is now scarcer than it was before the palm oil companies moved in, and that fertilisers have polluted their fishing ponds and drinking water.
So palm oil seems to be compounding, not alleviating poverty.
#Liberia #huile_de_palme #pauvreté #appauvrissement #agobusiness #pollution #eau #impérialisme