Palm Oil

The oil palm tree is native to West Africa. It is an important tree for forest-dependent communities, their cultures and their economies. However, large-scale oil palm monocultures for industrial production (oil and agrofuels) have been driving deforestation and land grabbing in Southeast Asia. More recently, oil palm monocultures are also driving destruction in Africa and Latin America.

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Articles 4 April 2024

New revelations in a palm oil scandal in the DRC: Urgent actions need to be taken in the mediation process

An alliance of organizations have demanded that European governments pause the mediation process and provide the communities access to the land documents and legal support to defend their interests.
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Action alerts 20 November 2023

PHC Congo: European development banks must be held accountable for broken mediation process

Collective statement, 20 November 2023
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Action alerts 24 February 2023

DR Congo: Undermined by violence, a development bank mediation process requires immediate government action

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Other information 16 January 2023

Palm Oil Company, Police and Military Conduct Massive, Violent Rampage Against Villagers in the DR Congo

In September 2022, two large contingents of national police and military were dispatched to oil palm plantation concession areas of the Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) in Lokutu and Boteka.
feronia
Bulletin articles 11 October 2022

What ‘Plantations’ Really Mean

This bulletin highlights materials and analysis related to communities’ struggles against industrial tree plantations. It also pays homage to communities in DRC struggling to get their lands back from an oil palm company since colonial times. Their courageous struggle showcases the multiple layers of oppression and violations that result from the plantation model.
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Bulletin articles 23 March 2022

A Century of Agro-Colonialism in the DR Congo

Many oil palm plantations’ concessions in West and Central Africa were built on lands stolen from communities during colonial occupations. This is the case in the DRC, where food company Unilever began its palm oil empire. Today, these plantations are still sites of on-going poverty and violence. It is time to end the colonial model of concessions and return the land to its original owners.
Feronia
Articles 9 March 2022

Development banks make shameless exit from a colonial land grab in the Congo

Action alerts 11 January 2022

République Démocratique du Congo: Polices et militaires tirent à balles réelles sur des ouvriers de PHC en grève

(Only available in French) Polices et militaires tirent à balles réelles sur des ouvriers de la Société FERONIA/PHC en grève à la plantation de Boteka.

Other information 17 May 2021

European development banks shamefully indifferent to violence and killings at industrial oil palm plantations in the DRC they have been financing for years

feronia Mme Augin Nolofana drc
Action alerts 11 May 2021

RDC: Entretien avec Mme Augin Nolofana, la maman d'un jeune villageois de Mwingi, qui aurait été tué par les agents de la société PHC/KKM

Available only in French.

Action alerts 10 March 2021

DR Congo palm oil company bankrolled by development banks unleashes wave of violence against villagers after peaceful protests

A young man was killed and other people are still in prison. It was after a protest against the failure of the PHC company to provide local communities with any benefits after 100 years of illegally occupying their land.

Bulletin articles 9 March 2021

Resistance Against Industrial Oil Palm Plantations in West and Central Africa

Communities in West and Central Africa are facing the impacts of industrial oil palm plantations. With the false promise of bringing ‘development’, corporations, backed up with government support, have been granted millions of hectares of land for this expansion.