Dr. Felix Gerdes, 2018 - Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation University of Liberia What are we talking about? Agricultural Concessions, Public Lands Law (1956), Real Property Statutes, Forestry, Legal situation, Communities can apply for “Community and more.

1. “Land Grabbing” in Liberia
Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation
University of Liberia
Dr. Felix Gerdes, 2018

2. What are we talking about?
• Agricultural Concessions
• Public Lands Law (1956)
• Real Property Statutes
• Registered Land Law
• Law of the Hinterland
• …
• Forestry:
• National Forestry Reform Law
• Communities can apply for “Community Forest” status (valid 15 years)
• Then, negotiations are exclusively between “community institutions” and companies; no bidding
necessary; opportunities for companies to exploit local lack of capacities
• NFRL may actually be applicable to areas considered covered by Public Lands Law
–> legal uncertainty / inconsistency
-> opportunities for companies to bypass bidding and state authorities (bid premium taxes etc)

3. Legal Situation
• Effectively two categories of land ownership:
• Public land (including “tribal reserves”)
• Private land (unknown area; frequent estimate 20 % of Liberian territory, but
“likely to be much higher” (World Bank 2008)
• Private land titles often do not provide legal protection due to weak judicial system and
abuses of power

4. “Land Conflict” in Liberia
• Most often: property disputes between two or more private parties
claiming ownership of same piece of land
• Issue refers to deficits in land registration; land surveyance; issuance of
multiple titles for same piece; lack of acceptance of legal framework; weak
(corrupt, underfunded, expensive, not necessarily fully qualified) judiciary
• Is not what we are talking about here!
• But we should keep in mind that the state of the judiciary is a fundamental
challenge to land rights

5. Rural Society and Roots of Conflict
• Paul Richards et al:
• Abuse of power by rural chiefs was a key motive for rural youths to join warring parties
• Chiefs, local elites abused control over access to land and wives to appropriate and work large
swaths of lands
• “women damage” fines; bride service; foster children; wives; own children
• use of connections and funds gained from public office to become large land owners, have “farm
laborers”
• Paramount, Clan, Town Chief offices were state-created
• Privileges, opportunities for enrichment in return for collecting taxes, expanding state authority
• Of course, not all chiefs abused their power and many enjoy a lot of respect. Yet, we
have to keep in mind that rural and traditional authorities may not always act in the best
interest of their communities.
• There may be some land grabbing in the traditional sphere, in addition to land grabbing
by Monrovian elites and foreign companies

6. Rural Society and Roots of Conflict
World Bank 2008: “There is perhaps no country in Africa where less is known of
customary systems of land tenure than in Liberia.”
• Sufficient evidence that there is a great variety of customary practices and rules
• Chieftaincy authority, “customary” Law of the Hinterland, etc. have historically
been abused for (rural and national) elite interests
• There are precedents of using “tribal” authority for outsider business interests
• Community land regulations in LRA; proposed community institutions to decide on
community land use are uniform; they constitute innovations and may not have a lot to do
with “traditional” custom

7. National Land Grabbing
• Significant tracts of land acquired and converted into (rubber
plantations) by Monrovia-based “absentee landlords”
• Since roughly the mid-20th century
• Domestic processes of concentration of land ownership need
attention too

8. Foreign Companies
and Land Grabbing

9. Forestry:
Atlantic Resources - linked companies dominate
• Some 25 percent of Liberia’s land surface for commercial forestry
• Significant evidence of illegal contract allocation (UN Panel of Experts)
• Contracts negotiated by FDA, ratified by Legislature
-> no local input
Concerns about sustainability, logging practices

10. Forest Management Contracts,
2009
Source:
Shearman/Green Advocates
2009

11. 2012
Source:
Global Witness,
2012

12. Large “recent” concession areas
• Palm Oil Plantations:
Sime Darby, Golden Veroleum Liberia; Equatorial Palm Oil
• State negotiated concession agreements
• Guaranteed “unencumbered access”
• Companies have “due diligence” obligation, but chose to ignore reality of
people living in the concession areas
• Shouldered responsibility for local residents’ claims (EPO)

13. Source:
Global Witness
2015

14. Large “recent” concession areas II
• No recognition of local property rights to land
• Compensation for crops, not land (or inability to use in future)
• Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certification increases
market access
• Companies need “Consent” (FPIC) of local communities, but:
• Reports of intimidation, threat, physical assault by company security and local
authorities (particularly South-eastern Liberia) to sign MoUs

15. Large “recent” concession areas II
• Refusal by companies to agree to measures symbolically recognizing
local ownership rights (e.g. lease payments)
• Community benefits, in as much as offered, as “Corporate Social
Responsibility”; i.e. road, bridge, health clinics; school projects
• Many complaints about capacity and quality of these projects
• Often, only employees have access -> not-employed community members
have neither income nor social benefits
• Forceful eviction of peasants from “their” land
• Accusations of deliberate stealing of private land titles by company
officials

16. Core Issues
• When people have access to land, they control “means of production” that
can be used to sustain livelihoods.
• When they lose this access to land, they have to work for others
• The knowledge they have in farming becomes useless, and they become
unskilled (low-wage) laborers
• Salaries gained may still be higher than income from peasant farming
• But not everybody will be employed, and jobs can be lost
• Chances for some, but much greater risk of having nothing for many!
• (Yet, rural hierarchies may deny decent livelihoods to many youths, too!)

17. Development Strategy Background
• When companies invest in land, it can be used more productively
• Profits are higher (but companies, government employees gain most, while
rural people usually have less than before!)
• Oil Palm is well known to Liberian (and other West African farmers)
• State expects investors to build processing facilities
• Create “value chains”; add value to produce
• Create more opportunities for Liberians to produce and sell in the long run
• Much money is made, but in the medium run, government benefits, the
poorest rural people lose most!
• Unfair distribution of costs and benefits

18. Downside
• Community protests, RSPO-complaints (and unforeseen crop pests!)
delay plantation development
• State gave more tax concessions
• Less state revenue
• Expected value chain opportunities not likely to materialize anytime
soon
• While companies have extensive legal rights to areas, plantation
expansion proceeds much slower than expected
• Situation hardly seems to satisfy anybody…

19. Some choices in rural development policy
• Plantation and FDI-driven development?
• Attractive because investors bring money
• But social effects seem disappointing
• “Firestone experience” seems to have shaped leaders’ thinking
• Opportunities for corrupt collusion between politicians and companies
• Enable peasants and urban youth to farm more productively?
• Socially attractive
• But state is broke; money needs to be brought in by donors
• Fewer opportunities for deals between politicians and companies
• What combinations can be feasible?