Opportunities to responsible land-based

investmentsin Central Africa

Laurène Feintrenie Laurene.feintrenie@cirad.fr

Contents

Land-based investments in Central Africa, a long story

Policies and national strategies for land-based investments

Impacts of land-based investments

Land-based investments in Central Africa, a long story

Colonization and concessionary regime• large piece of land, made available by the State to a

private or public society• Nucleus Estates and Smallholders projects

Independencies and socialism• Public societies• Collection and commercialization of agricultural

products organized by public services

Liberalization and privatization• Privatization of public plantations

4th wave:• 2000s Rush for farmland• Biofuels, Carbon sink, food-crops reserves

Cameroon

Gabon

Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo

Republic of Central Africa

< 196

019

6419

6819

7219

7619

8019

8419

8819

9219

9620

0020

0420

0820

12

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000Cameroon

Congo

DRC

Gabon

CAR

Surf

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al c

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a)

Total (ha) Under negotiation (ha) Acquired (ha)

Cameroon 1 026 400 650 000 376 400

Congo 774 294 110 000 664 294

DRC 163 794 163 794

Gabon 147 400 147 400

CAR 16 337 16 337

Total 2 128 225 760 000 1 368 225

Surface of agro-industrial concessions acquired or under negotiation in five countries of Central Africa

Cameroon

Congo DRC Gabon CAR0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000Palmex CentrapalmOlam TriNorth CapitalNovacel SPRL GAPFroidebise PalmecoOrgaman APCCELCO ComueleENI-Congo Fri-El GreenFRM BR Africa-CongoCongo Agriculture SA AtamaMag Industrie Sime DarbySiva SG-SOCFreFoCam ShaanxiGroupe Bolloré GMGPHP UNVPSemry Castel et Vilgrain

Surf

ace

acqu

ired

or u

nder

neg

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on, b

y in

vest

or (h

a)

Policies and national strategies for land-based investments

Policies toward a sustainable management of land-based investments

Lack of formal procedures and issue of transparency

In Gabon: no permit of plantation for industrial agricultural plantations => Olam was first granted a forestry permit

In Congo: no procedure for logging before planting => Atama was accused of illegal logging

As a consequence, States develop new procedures and institutions to answer to immediate needs, and under the pressure of agro-industries.

Lack of formal procedures opens doors to badly informed, one-way decisions and lack of transparency.

Cameroon

SG-SOC, Herakles Farms oil palm plantation

Policies toward a sustainable management of land-based investments

Lack of formal procedures and issue of transparency

Overlaps of land attributions, needs for inter-sectorial coordination for economic development

Cameroon

Republic of Congo

Republic of Congo

Atama, oil palm plantation

(180 000 ha /

470 000 ha)

Part of the concession comes from declassified forest management unit

Policies toward a sustainable management of land-based investments

Lack of formal procedures and issue of transparency

Overlaps of land attributions and inter-sectorial coordination for economic development

Land-based investments as part of national strategies of economic development

Republic of Congo

ProNAR:

1 000 000 ha planted in 2021

Atama, oil palm plantation

(180 000 ha /

470 000 ha)

Saris, sugar cane

(12 500 ha /

21 000 ha)

Industrial timber plantations (73 000 ha)

Gabon strategic plan for agriculture and livestock

Mineral resources in Gabon

Impacts of land-based investments

Land grab and conflicts over land?

Impact on livelihoods and national economies?

Deforestation, Carbon stock, and biodiversity?

Þ National procedures: FPIC, ESIAÞ Voluntary certification

Motivation for sustainable practices?Þ Asia, Africa: a demand for cheap products, not for

certified onesÞ Don’t fit with high sustainable standards, like

European standards (logging: FLEGT, biofuels)

Impact on governance

New demands: large-scale concessions outside the forestry sector

Conflicts of land-users => increasing need for clear tenure status for local people, and also for private societies

Conflicts of land-uses => need for national land use planning, land allocation per sector

New investors becoming main actors of the national economies => Olam in Gabon; Atama in Congo.

Civil society, NGOs, international institutions comment, advice, and get involved.National strategies, new procedures, new institutions

Impact on livelihoods

Lot of hiring is planned (e.g. 19 000 for Olam in Gabon in 2020, 27 000 for Atama in Congo in 2050):• Opportunity and difficulty: local people get priority

access to jobs, migrants will be locally needed

Few plans for family farming supported by agro-industries in oil palm, more in rubber or cereals.

Gabon strategic plan for agriculture and livestock

Impact on livelihoods

Lot of employment planned (e.g. 19 000 for Olam in Gabon in 2020, 27 000 for Atama in Congo in 2050):• Opportunity and difficulty: migrants will be locally

needed, local people get priority access to jobs

Few plans for family farming supported by agro-industries in oil palm, more in rubber or cereals.

Where there is high competition for land, like in Cameroon, social conflicts rise.

Agro-industries engaged into certification undertake FPIC and ESIA followed by impact management plans.

Impact on the environment

Deforestation for conversion to agriculture

Forest degradation around agro-industrial plantations due to added pressure on forest resources (timber, fuel-wood, NTFP)

Added pressure on fauna for bush-meat.

But, agro-industries willing to follow sustainable practices and get certification might have low and controlled impact on the environment.

Development of plantations in savannahs should be promoted.

Conclusion

Can large-scale land based investments be turned from threats into opportunities?

Recent land deals are of bigger surfaces than previous waves of investments, and there is a more extended conversion of natural forests into other land-uses.

There is a slow but progressive shift in historical patterns of investments from a North-South to a South-South axis.

Positive impacts of large-scale land investments on livelihoods and the broader economy might be enhanced by policies toward a green economy.

Negative impacts on the environment might be reduced to an acceptable minimum by the same.

If policy safeguards are put in place, national land use planning designed following a green economy strategy, and guidelines for sustainable management respected, large-scale land investments might be sustainably managed.

Laurene.feintrenie@cirad.fr