The Echoes from AEFJN No. 30 - July August 2016 are now available online. Africa land for EU biofuels
Some cases of EU companies involved in large piece of land for biofuels investment in African countries.
(Classified by target country)
|
Investor country |
Investor |
Target country |
Nature of deal |
Status of deal |
Date announced /signed |
Consequences for people |
Source |
|
FRANCE |
Total, Suez
|
Burkina Faso Comoé, Kompienga, Mouhoun |
20 500 Ha Jatropha |
Pilot project of electricity |
2009 |
Jatropha is an invasive and poisonous plant. No different crop allowed during 10 years after jatropha culture |
CCFD-Terre solidaire http://ccfd-terresolidaire.org/e_upload/pdf/etat_lieux_ccfd_agrocarburants_sud.pdf |
|
FRANCE – BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG |
Socapalmpartner of Groupe Bolloré France & Fabri BELGIUM & Socfinal LUXEMBOURG |
Cameroun |
104 527 ha Oil Palm exploited + 18 265 ha of private planters subcontractors |
Privatisation of state company Socapalm |
2000 |
Eviction without compensation Bad working conditions Violence when contestation No respect of social and environmental commitments Pollution of water supplies Bolloré doesn’t take responsibility for activities of its subsidiary group * |
http://eco.rue89.com/2010/12/07/socapalm-au-cameroun-lepine-du-groupe-bollore-179546 |
|
Germany |
Flora EcoPower |
Ethiopia |
13,000 ha secured for biofuels crops; contract farming |
Arrangement signed for 5-years plan that targets an annual production of 700,000 ton of oil by 2011 |
n.a. |
87 % of the project lies in an elephant sanctuary |
http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/04__status_of_biofuels_in_ethiopia__rezene_fessehaie.pdf |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
Sun Biofuels |
Ethiopia |
About 23mi. Ha of land secured for jatropa (biofuel) + 85,000 ha to cultivate castor |
Deal implemented seeds |
n.a. |
Some of these areas are highly populated and cultivated for food by small-farmers Importing hybrid seed from China without any regulation |
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK10422520090320?sp=true |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
Sun Biofuels |
Mozambique |
Land secured for jatropa (biofuel) |
40 000 ha of jatropha on agricultural land of great quality –contract giving right of use for 99 years |
2008 |
Farmers dispossessed of land for more than one generation |
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK10422520090320?sp=true
http://ccfd-terresolidaire.org/e_upload/pdf/etat_lieux_ccfd_agrocarburants_sud.pdf?PHPSESSID=9d5e51d8a9ce6dce62a0ac3d65a7688c |
|
Sweden |
Sekab (Svensk Etanolkemi AB) |
Mozambique |
100,000 ha secured for biofuels crops |
|
n.a. |
|
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK10422520090320?sp=true |
|
Norway |
Bio Fuel Africa, subsidiary of Biofuel Norway
|
Ghana, Northern region |
|
38 000 hectares with illiterate chief’s thumb print |
|
Loss of Land Loss of incomes and resources from forest Failures in process of negotiation Broken Promises of employment, income and compensation
NB: RAINS, local NGO intervened to start again the negotiations on right bases |
|
|
Sweden |
Sekab (Sweden for 200 106 euros) +Government of Ghana and Brazil (for refinery) |
GHANA / at the northern tip of Volta Lake, about 100 kilometers south of Tamale.
|
30 000 ha Canne à sucre |
start exporting ethanol to Sweden by the end of 2010 150,000 cubic metres of ethanol per year |
May 2008 |
This huge amount of money is invested in agriculture during food crisis in Ghana. |
|
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
T4M (Trans4mation Agric-tech) |
Nigeria |
10 000 ha for biofuels crops |
|
2009 |
|
http://euobserver.com/9/28113/?rk=1 |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
CAMS Group |
Tanzania |
45,000 ha purchased for sweetsorghum (biofuel) |
Deal implemented |
2007 |
|
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK10422520090320?sp=true |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
Sun Biofuels |
Tanzania |
5,500 ha secured for jatropha (biofuel) |
|
n.a. |
|
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK10422520090320?sp=true |
|
Belgium |
Felisa (Tanzania-Belgium) |
Tanzania |
hybrid oil palm in Kigoma Region, and targeting production of 10,000 ha of oil palm in the region. |
4,258 ha acquired (5000 ha originally requested) |
2009 |
Land dispute in court for extra 350 ha obtained from 2 villages and no EIA done. (2009) |
http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/12560IIED.pdf |
|
Swedish |
SEKAB Bioenergy Tanzania Ltd (a major Swedish bioethanol producer) |
Tanzania |
roughly 22,000 ha in Bagamoyo District and up to several hundred thousand hectares of village land planned for acquisition in Rufiji District.Jatropha |
Seed cane planted and irrigation reservoir constructed |
2009 |
Displacement of villagers; Villagers in Rufiji and Kisarawe commented that many promises had been made regarding benefits for them, such as social services and employment, but none of this had been documented in written contracts with the investor |
http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/12560IIED.pdf
Envirocare, NGO (cited by http://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/downloads/niemand-isst-fuer-sich-allein/Envirocare_Land_rights_in_Bagamoyo_Tansania_18_11_2010_Berlin_.pdf) |
|
UNITED KINGDOM |
Sun Biofuels |
Tanzania |
8,211 ha acquired in Kisarawe District for Jatropha plantation (some 70 kilometers from Dar es Salaam) |
8,211 ha acquired (50,000 ha originally requested) |
2009 Land status: transferred from village to general land (Feb 2009) |
directly or indirectly affected over 10,000 villagers resident in 12 villages that allocated land On March 15, 2010, some villagers said that they were not being compensated for their land, while others said they received too little money for their livelihood Loss of access to water sources and a short cut to neighbouring villages where their blood brothers live.
|
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|
UNITED KINGDOM |
D1 Oils
|
Zambia
45,000 hectares under cultivation in Shikabeta chiefdom in Chongwe district. 15,000 hectares in Kasama, in Northern Province and 600 hectares in Solwezi, North Western Province Lumwana area, the Ntambo Chiefdom, and the Mumena Chiefdom in the North Western Province; the Mpezeni Chiefdom Community in the Eastern province |
Jatropha for biodiesel |
Contracts are signing with farmers, as well as working through NGOs in the Southern region of the country |
2007 |
Out grower schemes in Zambia have a history of keeping farmers at a disadvantage : perpetuated poverty and in some cases even increased the poverty situation (CCJDP, 2006) |
ABN report “"AGROfuels in Africa –The impacts on land, food and forests” http://www.biofuelwatch.org.UNITED KINGDOM/docs/ABN_Agro.pdf |
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GERMANY |
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, |
Uganda |
Mubende Coffee plantation with local partners Kaweri coffee plantation Ltd. |
2001 Government lease land to establish coffee plantation |
2001 |
Eviction of 401 families (2041 ind.) No guarantee for land of replacement Bad working conditions & violence to break up the strike of workers No adequate access to clean water and local infrastructure (school, health centre) |
FIAN, ActionAid |
* December 09, 2010 : Sherpa et ses associés ont déposé plainte devant l’OCDE contre les entreprises qui contrôlent la Société camerounaise de palmeraies (Socapalm) :non seulement contre le groupe Bolloré, en France, mais aussi contre les trois entités juridiques installées à l’étranger qui, liées à Bolloré via des « montages complexes », « exercent de concert le contrôle sur les opérations de la Socapalm » : la Financière du Champs de Mars (Belgique), Socfinal (Luxembourg) et Intercultures (Luxembourg) . http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/carnet/2010-12-09-Cameroun-Bollore
Tanzania: there are ongoing conflicts between investors and local communities as among problems associated with lack of clear policy guidelines.
Some other EU biofuels companies implemented in Africa:
AlcoGroup – Belgique : in South Africa , has bought South Africa NCP Alcohols.
Aurantia – Espagne : in Republic of Congo (palm oil plantations and 4 biodiesel refineries).
Dagris – France : in Burkina Faso through its local partners local SN Citec.
ENI – Italy: “Tar sands” and palm oil in Congo Bassin near Pointe-Noire in PRCongo (http://www.boell.de/ecology/climate/climate-energy-7775.html )
Dutch automaker Kia - Netherlands invested in Mali Biocarburant SA (MBSA) http://allafrica.com/stories/201002181096.html Jatropha and farming subsidiary system: Farmers are 20 percent shareholders in the company. We have a strategy of local production, processing, and consumption."
Dutch biodiesel company in south Africa
Note that funds issued from Clean Development Mechanism is seen as a source of income for governments that do not hesitate to forcibly evict indigenous farmers from land without right compensation, no more support.
The main problems of land acquisition by investors are:
Conflicts in process: Is general authority or village authorities able to negotiate the deals ?
Villagers lack understanding of the process Ex: in Tanzania, villagers from Mtamba village suggest that they do not know how much of their land has been given to the company because of difference between what has been discussed and what is reported on official papers.
Villagers lack understanding of the law Ex: In Zambia, many peasants ignore that leasing a piece of land for 3 years means to transfer the ownership of this piece of land
Promises, not written contracts So: no proof, no tool for verification
Conflicts between companies that threaten fair deals
Procedures not followed, confusion over process
Inadequate land valuation criteria : Ex: compensation based on surface under crops on one date but not on all agricultural surface acquired and that may contains fallow
High level of risk carried by communities Ex: compensation paid only after company has received derivative title, because it needs this title as collateral to secure bank loans.