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This document, presents a learning story from the LEGEND Challenge Fund that supported partnership projects by civil society and private sector business to test approaches through which private business can potentially contribute to more secure land rights and better land governance in agricultural investment sites and supply chains. It explains the challenges involved in a participatory mapping exercise conducted jointly by a company Natural Habitats Sierra Leone Ltd (NHSL) a member of the Netherlands based Natural Habitats Group (NHG), and the NGO Solidaridad.
This was a critical part of a process led by Solidaridad to facilitate agreement between the company and local communities to resolve problems, grievances and conflicts involved in the development of an oil palm plantation which required a reduction in size of an excessively large concession. This was originally created without community consultations and obtained by a previous company, before it was acquired by NHSL. This had led to complex and serious problems, grievances and conflicts involving the company and local community land users and the landowning families, in turn leading NHSL to seek assistance from Solidaridad in a project proposal responding to a LEGEND call for proposals in 2016.
The views expressed in this document reflect those of the author and those of Solidaridad and other stakeholders in the process at the time of writing; as such they do not necessarily reflect the views of the companies involved, or those of the LEGEND programme and of DFID.