In 2023, Socfin hired a consultancy to investigate longstanding allegations of human rights violations and environmental damage raised by communities living around the Belgian transnational company’s oil palm and rubber plantations in Africa and Southeast Asia. Findings from a second round of investigations have now been published. Supply chain consultancy Earthworm Foundation’s investigators visited a subsidiary in Sierra Leone, the Socfin Agricultural Company (SAC), and one of the holding group’s four Cameroonian operations, SAFACAM. They found evidence of sexual harassment, problems with concession agreements and compensation schemes, as well as numerous incidents of pollution of water sources and environmental degradation affecting nearby communities in Sierra Leone and Cameroon. “The [SAC] report shows that Socfin does not have safeguards in place and is lacking due diligence,” said Joseph Rahall, from the Sierra Leonean advocacy group Green Scenery. Rahall, whose organization has been a leading voice raising concerns about Socfin’s practices since the plantation was established in 2011, said he was surprised by how forthright the report was. The investigators found pollution of rivers, lakes and lagoons in both Sierra Leone and Cameroon that they said could be linked to the company’s activities. In Sierra Leone, they also reported that the company doesn’t always apply measures to mitigate air pollution as proposed in the environmental, social and health impact assessment carried out when the plantation was set up in 2011. Margaret Fascia was amongst those who fought to protect their land when Socfin arrived to set up a plantation in 2011. “I…This article was originally published on Mongabay
This post was originally published on this site
