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Opportunities to responsible land-based
investmentsin Central Africa
Laurène Feintrenie [email protected]
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
ace
in a
gro-
indu
stri
al c
once
ssio
ns (h
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
otiati
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.