This comic is based on field research conducted around the Feronia palm oil plantation in Tshopo province in north-east DR Congo as part of a project on ‘environmental defenders and atmospheres of violence’. The story focuses on people living next to the Feronia concession and how they experience and fight against the company. While the names in the comic are fictional;the described events are based on testimonies gathered during field research.

Notes that a record 212 land and environmental defenders were reported killed in 2019 but believes that the real number was certainly higher. Mining;logging and agribusiness were the main drivers of this. States that ‘verifying cases from Africa continues to be difficult. Limited monitoring of the issue by civil society;media repression and localised conflict mean attacks are probably underreported in some regions.Seven were reported killed in DR Congo;Burkina Faso;Uganda;Ghana and Kenya. Makes recommendations to governments;companies and investors.

Includes overview;the problem: Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) finance a destructive model;current situation: DFIs write off loans;impacted communities face repression;human rights abuses;the role of European DFIs;recommendations. The negative outcomes experienced in the case of Feronia Inc.

Argues that the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted land governance;which is vital in achieving inclusive economic growth;sustainable development and food security. It is seriously disrupting food systems and causing delays in justice for indigenous peoples and threatening land and environmental defenders. Includes a two minute video.

Looks at the dynamics of environmental displacement;land rights and conflict in the aftermath of the Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in March 2019;and at the role of international and national legal frameworks in addressing land-related problems caused by this displacement. Land rights issues such as the need to displace people from high-risk areas bring another layer of problems to climate change adaptation.

This report focuses on Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO);which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The authors found EPO had violated local people’s right to their land;had broken promises;used violence and threats;are pushing people further into poverty and have not been made to account for it. The report argues that the UK should create a law that will compel British companies to respect human rights and environmental sustainability in countries in which they operate;or be made to account for not doing so. The report includes a response from EPO.

A study commissioned by IIED. With less than 20 percent of landholdings in Uganda currently registered;land governance is at the forefront of a profound change as customary land is demarcated and registered. A key challenge is to ensure the equitability of this process involving gender and social equality;the protection of the poor and vulnerable comprising children and the disabled;and the environment.

Africa’s Catholic bishops have criticized the appropriation of land;natural resources and other economic assets by private companies and called on national governments to show greater concern for local community rights and needs. They said: ‘The impunity of corporate and elite capture of African land and natural resources and the damage this is doing to Africa’s food systems;to our environment;our soils;lands and water;our biodiversity;our nutrition and health is a major concern.

An 11 minute film illustrating how rural villagers in Sierra Leone are seeking to ensure justice. When a Chinese rubber company seized their forest and land they came together;used the law and won. Since then they have taken part in a fight to transform Sierra Leone’s systems for land and environmental governance.

An educational resource that debunks myths used for privatizing land around the world while providing facts on how customary tenure systems are critical to protecting livelihoods and ensuring sustainable development for the people and the planet.

Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives;Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency.

This is the PDF version of an online data story published by Land Portal on 12 May 2022.

Maize is a key global cash crop, produced in every continent except Antarctica. As a flex crop, it has multiple uses including for direct human consumption, as an ingredient for animal feed, as a key component in processed foods, or in ethanol production. According to figures from FAOSTAT, global production increased from 0.2 to 1.2 billion tons between 1961 and 2020.