Sierra Leone

Farmers and activists are increasing pressure on the government to be more transparent about large-scale land deals with foreign firms and to make sure local communities benefit

Meeting of delegates from eight districts and twenty chiefdoms affected by large scale land acquisitions for agribusiness in Sierra Leone ends with formation of a coalition to serve as a watchdog on land issues in the country.

Une conférence nationale en Sierra Léone est parvenue à une recommandation pour la formation d’une Coalition de la Société Civile qui servirait de contrôleur des questions foncières dans le pays.

In yet another exposé of exploitative practices associated with large-scale land acquisitions, the Oakland Institute examines Socfin Agricultural Corporation Sierra Leone (Socfin), controlled by the powerful French corporate titan Vincent Bolloré

As more and more companies flock to the country to lease large tracts of land, murmurs of protest and unrest are cropping up among local populations who are unhappy with the way the deals are done.

The million dollar question begging for answer is whether the country is deriving any benefit from these investments?

So is it a land grab or a development opportunity? Is land grabbing actually good for Africa? BBC Africa Debate discusses the issue in Freetown in Sierra Leone.

This Friday, February 24th, BBC Africa will broadcast a debate from Freetown Sierra Leone on international farmland deals in Africa - or Land grabbing as it’s commonly known. Listeners can join the discussion on social media.

La déclaration de Ouidah vise à faire connaître les revendications des petits producteurs ouest-africains, aussi bien auprès de leur gouvernement qu’auprès des États occidentaux d’où proviennent la plupart des investisseurs.

New studies released in London today suggest that the frenzied sell-off of forests and other prime lands to buyers hungry for the developing world's natural resources risk sparking widespread civil unrest—unless national leaders and investors recognize the customary rights of millions of poor people who have lived on and worked these lands for centuries.

The six case studies compiled in this report illustrate the wide range of approaches and focus that private funds are adopting (legal structure, geography, agricultural production and operating strategies) to invest in farmland in different parts of the world.

Unbeknown to many outside Liberia, Mrs. Johnson Sirleaf’s government may now be sowing the seeds of future conflict by handing over huge tracts of land to foreign investors and dispossessing rural Liberians.