By Calvin Kumala
Adi Pratama from Oxfam Indonesia started the session with a case study from the food crisis issue in Pelalawan, Indonesia. The district of Pelalawan struggles to source for food for its residents even though 90% of the total area is used for agricultural plantation. The majority of plantation in the area is planted with monoculture commodity of palm oil that leads to almost 99% of food supply having to be delivered from other districts. Making matters worse, most of the plantation is owned by big companies who do not fulfil their promises. Due to lack of equipment and training, small-scale farmers are unable to sell their crops properly due to various legal restrictions to meet various standard and regulations (traceability, land title, safety equipment, product quality). Women are often left behind in the discussion, especially in the palm oil industry that is mostly dominated by male. Adi highlighted that rigorous studies are done to test alternative business models that promote interactions involving both the local communities and the private sectors. OXFAM Indonesia thus suggested a model framework called FAIR Company-Community Partnership that re-defines the relationship between company and community in order to promote zero-deforestation goals among the investors, governments and palm oil buyers. FAIR stands for Freedom of choice, Accountability, Improvement and Respect for rights. Such arrangements improve the efficiency of land management that can benefit all sectors – companies and communities – especially when it comes to tackling climate, food security and land rights issues. FAIR partnership also adopts a new green growth model that is built on the promises of promoting small farmers and women in the supply base through giving educational, training and financial support for them. OXFAM adopts FPIC – Free Prior and Informed Consent where company is seen as a guest to the land and not as the owner of the land, thus forcing company to follow the aspirations of the communities and not vice versa. Eventually, OXFAM Indonesia fights to push a shift in the agricultural investment landscape from a monoculture plantation of palm oil to a mosaic plantation – an integrated agricultural area with different areas designated for different plants and different functions: forest land, subsistence farming, food, and so on.
A strong cooperation between companies and local communities is crucial in achieving a balance in the socio-economic development of the country. Phuong Hoang from PanNature Vietnam believed that the creation of voluntary guidelines for both outward and inward agribusiness investment is imperative in order to mitigate social and environmental risks that come from such act. Private sector must be held accountable for existing land grabbing issues that are also prevalent in Vietnam. PanNature realises that despite all the negative coverage surrounding agricultural investment, business industries provide the economic pillar for a sustainable development of the nation. They are a crucial component to lift a nation out of poverty, especially in the case of Vietnam that still adopts communism in its governance. Phuong believed that NGOs should tap into the ethical responsibilities of companies instead of vilifying them. In Vietnam, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) is working with PanNature and Oxfam to identify possible problems that arise from land investment and to develop guidelines for both business practitioners and policymakers. Private companies are involved since the very beginning of the process. Once pioneered companies adopt the guidelines, more and more small companies will also follow the positive change in the methodology and ethical practises that are adopted by big companies. PanNature is committed to push for revision of internal policies on land governance as well as to promote development of alternative solutions for affected communities.
Tawonga Chihana from Landnet Malawi shared her own experience on how a wrong approach in engaging with private company can result in distrust and rejection from local communities. In this context, Landnet developed a C2P (Commitment to practice) project that targets the Illovo Sugar Africa company who is responsible for various land grab incidents in Malawi. C2P aims to build internal capacity of Illovo to prevent land rights violation throughout its supply chain and thus promoting a collaborative relationship between Illovo and local CSOs. LandNet is responsible in bridging the gap between the local community and Illovo. C2P framework provides an opportunity for representatives from both sectors to engage in an open, honest and meaningful discussion regarding the disputes that affect both the lives of many. As a neutral third-party, landNet also provides updates regarding the discussion and the development of the problem to the government for accountability and monitoring purposes. However, due to this, local communities develop distrust towards Landnet. Communities then prefer to deal with Illovo directly as they believe that there is a collusion between landnet and Illovo. As a result, there are problems that arise from direct negotiations between a big company and small farmers as people often do not have the necessary legal knowledge and leverage to push for genuine changes. Through this, LandNet understands that local communities’ interests should always be placed at the heart of the discussion. Instead of approaching agricultural companies first, LandNet should always listen to the needs of the local farmers before going for a discussion with the private sector.
When land rights issues are concerned, women and children are often neglected in the discussion of land governance. Bridget Chinyemba by Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA) thus developed a gendered tool that is built on FPIC principles in order to examine women’s involvement in all stages of agricultural investment process. Through ZLA observation, there has been over 400 families in Zambia who have been displaced or resettled due to expansion of land areas for agricultural investment. Investors have not fulfilled their promises to the community such as the provision of clear water, farming inputs, jobs, health clinics and schools. Results of the gender tool testing indicate that land investments in Zambia has generally no meaningful engagement with local communities. There was no evidence of consent being sought from affected community members, especially from women. ZLA promises to provide more training on the process of negotiating and the legal rights that farmers can use to defend their positions.
Daisy Gardener from Oxfam Australia believed that banks also play a role in issues pertaining land rights and agricultural investment. In 2014, Oxfam australia linked 4 Australian banks to operations impacting farmers and communities in Brazil, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. Banks were lending money to agriculture and forestry companies that displace people from their land. Banks thus, according to her, have a responsibility since they are profiting from loans made by those companies. Financiers of land deals ultimately are the ones enabling the projects to go ahead. SImilar to all businesses, banks have a responsibility under various international guidelines such as UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to ensure that any actions taken do not cause harm. Engaging financial institutions can play a big role to prevent, stop and remedy and grabbing. Banks therefore need to be transparent about their loans to forestry agribusinesses companies. They need to stop lending money to agribusiness who does illegal practices. A pressure from the public is also imperative to stop banks from lending money to industries that are proven to be harmful and damaging to local communities.
