Foreign Banks Hear Allegations of Land-grab and Pollution Against Their Investments in Liberian Goldmine

August 10, 2021

Banner Image: A mountain range in Foya, Lofa County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

BY James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – More than 10,000 villagers who allege being harmed by Bea Mountain Mining Corporation’s New Liberty Gold Mine in Kinjor, Grand Cape Mount County, have had their complaint accepted against the German and French national development banks – DEG and Proparco – for their involvement in the project.

In their complaint they filed in February and reviewed by the banks’ Independent Complaints Mechanism in July, the villagers accuse the mining company of taking their homes and farms, polluted their water, and breaking promises to provide jobs, schools and other facilities. The villagers are represented by 21 townspeople from five villages.

“The complainants allege that they have suffered substantial harm from resettlement from the area where the mine was established, from environmental impacts and impacts from river diversion,” the Independent Complaint Mechanism said. “Allegedly serious harm was caused through the release of harmful chemicals between December 2015 and June 2016.”

DEG and Proparco have direct links to the western Liberian mine through their investments FirstRand, a commercial bank in South African. The Independent Complaints Mechanism of the development banks will now seek to bring the mine’s owner, Avesoro Resources, into a formal mediation process with the complainants, who are supported by Liberian and international nongovernmental organizations, including Rights and Rights Foundation, Foundation for Community Initiatives, Society for the Conservation of Nature Liberia, Inclusive Development International, Oxfam Novib and SOMO.

“We have been neglected by the mining company,” explained a community leader, whose identity is being kept anonymous due to fear of reprisals, in a release issued on Monday by the NGOs. “We were taken from our land without any good reward, and our land and water polluted while the company refused to fully address the problems. Our livelihoods – farming and artisanal mining – have been disrupted by the company, and we are suffering from food insecurity and unattended health problems. We hope that the complaint process will help restore our livelihoods and hold the company to its promises.”

Liberia, which is rebuilding following years of civil war, has sought to attract foreign investment. But gold mining projects have been controversial. In March 2016, the New Liberty Gold Mine in Grand Cape Mount County spilled cyanide and arsenic into a river that people rely on for fish and drinking water. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, pulled its investment in the project after the accident. Following a visit by President George Weah last year, the company has recently embarked on several long-overdue community infrastructure improvement projects. The Independent Complaints Mechanism’s mediation process offers a unique opportunity to support the Liberian government’s efforts to ensure that the project brings promised benefits to local communities.

“The admissibility decision brings hope to the people who have suffered neglect and injustice for so long,” the release quoted Liberian advisors to complainants, whose identities are being kept confidential over reprisal. “We see this process as a unique opportunity to initiate a formal mediation between the affected communities and the company, and we ask the Liberian government to support the process to ensure that it will produce a just outcome.”

Major consumer brands such as Apple, Macy’s, IBM and Canon disclose that they sourced gold from Liberia in their most recent conflict minerals reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There are only two commercial goldmines in Liberia, and both are ultimately owned by the MNG Group of Turkey, which is controlled by the billionaire Günal family.

“This case shows once again how big brand companies and development institutions alike are failing to perform human rights due diligence on their investment and supply chains,” said David Pred, Executive Director of Inclusive Development International. “We are calling on FirstRand, the European development banks and the retail and technology companies that source gold from New Liberty to ensure that Avesoro engages in good faith mediations with the communities to resolve their long-standing grievances.”

The complaint is the first to be admitted by the Independent Complaints Mechanism involving a so-called financial intermediary. Development banks, including DEG and Proparco, are increasingly outsourcing their money to financial intermediaries such as commercial banks, which then invest it onward, often with little oversight.

DEG and Proparco have been lending money to FirstRand Bank of South Africa for years. International best practices require banks like FirstRand to apply strict social and environmental standards to all of their high-risk clients, no matter their size or location. FirstRand participated in project loans of $110 million to develop New Liberty while it was a client of DEG and Proparco, the release said. The Independent Accountability Mechanism found that FirstRand should have applied DEG’s and Proparco’s social and environmental standards, accepting the New Liberty complaint on the basis of the development banks’ portfolio-wide approach to financial intermediaries – a first in development finance accountability.

“This decision creates a vital opportunity for the Liberian communities to secure redress for the terrible impacts they have suffered as a result of the New Liberty mine,” said Sarah Singh, senior legal and policy associate at Inclusive Development International per the release. “The decision to accept the complaint on the basis of the banks’ portfolio-wide approach also establishes an important precedent that opens the door to remedy for any community that has been harmed by companies supported by the financial intermediaries of the European development banks.”

FirstRand Bank is also an ongoing financial intermediary of the Dutch development bank FMO but the Independent Complaints Mechanism dismissed the complaint against the Dutch bank on technical grounds.

Two other banks joined FirstRand in financing the New Liberty Mine. Nedbank, a South African commercial bank that is a signatory to the Equator Principles, co-financed the deal, while the South African government’s export credit agency, ECIC, guaranteed it.

Watchdog Backs Communities’ Protest for US$5.5M Land Rental Fees

August 6, 2021

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Banner Image: Residents of logging-affected communities protest before the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on Tuesday in Monrovia. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – The Benefit Sharing Trust Board—a multi stakeholders’ watchdog in the forestry sector—has backed communities’ protest for more than US$5.5 million in land rental fees.

Communities led by their union protested at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for the amount but suspended their sit-in action for a week after meeting officials of the ministry.

“The National Benefit Sharing Trust (NBST) Board is joining the National Union of Community Forestry Development Committee (NUCFDC) in calling on the Government of Liberia (GoL) to pay what it owes to the affected communities of logging companies,” the watchdog said in a release on Thursday. “The non-payment of these funds shows lack of willingness to uphold its obligation required by the National Forestry Reform Law (NFRL) of 2006 and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) signed with the European Union.”

The Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has received US$27.7 million from large-scale logging companies such between 2017 and now but has not paid the communities hosting those concessions a cent ever since, according to a report by Forest Trends in a report last year, tracking payments in the sector between 2007 and 2019.

The protest brought it to three straight years now that the union has agitated for the payment. It petitioned the Legislature in 2019 and 2020.

Earlier this year, the union had a meeting with lawmakers, who promised to persuade the Ministry of Finance to make allotment in the special dudget for the fiscal year 2021/2022. The board calls on the government to fulfill its commitment as budget hearings are ongoing.

“We expect that while our international partners are struggling to support and strengthen governance processes, it is incumbent [upon the government to avoid any furthercommunity frustration and protest,” the board said. “We call on the Legislature to ensure that the necessary steps are taken by the requisite authorities to address the concerns of the communities.”

The board is a product of the National Forest Reform Law of 2006 and regulations, representing the interest of forest-related communities people affected by logging concessions. It receives 30 percent of land rental fees from the government, disburses them to communities and oversees their expenditure. The group comprises members of civil society, loggers and the government.

Communities have received US$2.6 million—instead of US$8.6 million—of the 27.7 million the government has received since the law came into being. That is how the US$5.5 million outstanding payment came about.

Women’s Rights CSO Condemns Government’s Failure to Pay Communities over US$5.5M

August 6, 2021

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Banner Image: women from logging-affected communities protest before the Ministry of Finance in Monrovia. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By William Q. Harmon

MONROVIA – The Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI)—which advocates for women’s land rights—has expressed displeasure over the Liberian government’s failure to pay communities their legal share of land rental fees it received from logging companies.

The government owes communities affected by large-scale logging concessions more than US$5.5 million, according to Forest Trends in a report last year, covering logging-related payments between 2007 and 2019. That report said the government has not paid the fees since 2017.

“We want to join our voices to the [National Union of Community Forest Development Committee] in demanding the funds are paid now,” Loretta Aletha Pope Kai, FCI’s Executive Director, said in a statement on Thursday. “The government cannot continue to ignore the plight of its own people.

“Please pay the people their money.”

The union, which staged the protest early on Tuesday at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, hung the sit-in it had planned for a week following a discussion with the Comptroller and Accountant General of Liberia Janga Kowo. Kowo promised to get back the communities within a week.

The delayed payments are a violation of the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law of Liberia, which calls for the government to pay 30 percent of all logging-related land rental fees it receives to rural towns and villages, which host the forests from which the timbers are harvested.

It also breaches Liberia’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU), which mandates the west African country to harvest its logs in a sustainable manner. It also contravenes the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), mainly its pillars on economic empowerment and power to the people.

“This is a reversal of the gains we have made in the forestry sector since the end of the war,” the statement said in reference to the country’s breakaway from a civil war era where forest resources fueled the killing of an estimated 250,000 people. “We are drifting away from the lessons we learned during our civil war from denying local communities benefits of forest resources.”

Women’s rights

Mrs. Kai said the communities’ land rental fee crisis will have an impact on women’s participation in the upcoming elections for new corps of officers on local forestry governance structures, known across the forestry sector as community forestry development committee (CFDC). Out of 23 of those bodies, only one woman occupies a chairperson position, Ruth Gibson of Grand Gedeh County.

“It has the propensity to cause apathy among women who want to take up leadership responsibilities on these governance bodies,” the statement said. “Already facing diehard, decade-long patriarchy, gender stereotype and societal marginalization, the government protracted indebtedness to communities will only exacerbate the challenges women face in terms of land rights and equal participation in forest governance across the country.”

The statement also said the government’s indebtedness to the communities will compound poverty in the rural areas.

“This further means, women in those communities will not have access to paved farm-to-market roads, clinics, schools for their children and other things logging money should provide for them.”

Logging Communities Suspend Protest for US$5.5M Land Rental Fees

August 3, 2021

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Banner Image: Protesters from logging-affected communities hold placards at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in Monrovia on Tuesday. The DayLight/Harry Browne

By Ojuku S. Kangar, Jr.

MONROVIA – Communities affected by logging concession have suspended their planned weeklong protest for over US$5.5 million land rental fees the Liberian government owes them after reaching a rough agreement with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

The protesters from the 23 large-scale logging concession areas gathered earlier on Tuesday morning in front of the Ministry of Finance with placards, demanding the government to settle the arrear. They had announced on Sunday in a press release that their sit-in would last for a week unless the government pays them at least US$2.2 millions of the total debt.

Andrew Zelemen, the head of secretariat of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee (NUCFDC), which led the protest, said the protesters agreed to give the government a week to address their plight.

“Today’s action was meant to draw the attention of the ministry,” Zelemen said shortly after meeting officials of the ministry just barely one hour into the protest. “They are our leaders and we trust what they tell us. But if they fail, we will continue our [protest] action.”

The Comptroller General and Accountant of the Republic of Liberia Janga Kowo pleaded with the protesters to give the government time to begin readying the payment.

“We will approach the Minister of Finance [Samuel Tweah] and the National Legislature to make sure the amount be placed in the national budget,” he told reporters outside the ministry’s headquarters in Monrovia. “Settlement arrangement will be made. I will be doing a comprehensive briefing with the Minister of Finance and he will brief the President for lasting solution.”

The 2006 National Forestry Law of Liberia mandates 30 percent shares of all land rental fees large-scale logging companies pay. The last time those fees were paid was in fiscal year 2015/2016, according to NUCFDC. The government has paid only US$2.6 million (instead of US$8.6 million) from US$27.7 million it has collected from loggers ever since the law came into force.

‘We need our benefits’

Prior to the truce, protesters held placards brandishing inscriptions such as: “Government of Liberia, pay our share of land rental fees,” “Our forest, we need the benefits,” “Logging communities deserve benefits,” and “The government and logging companies owe us plenty money.”

Standing second from the left, Andrew Zelemen, headed the protest at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on Tuesday. The DayLight/Harry Browne

The Tuesday protest made it the third year in succession that rural communities have taken action over forestland rental fees. It has petitioned the Legislature in the last two years. The NUCFDC said in the release it had contacted the Ministry of Finance and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA)—the government office responsible for the logging sector—but got no redress. The FDA did not respond to queries for comments on the matter.

The communities appear firmer this year, demanding the payment was made. “It is still regrettable that the government is yet to do anything in addressing this issue of communities receiving their share of land rental fees as required by law,” the NUCFDC had said in the release Sunday.

The government’s failure to pay communities their share of land rental fees is a violation of the National Forestry Reform Law of Liberia. It undermines Liberia’s Volunteer Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union—the biggest purchaser of Liberian timbers—which calls for fair sharing of forest resources. It also contravenes the community pillar of the country’s forestry reform, which ended decades in which rural areas did not benefit from timber resources and had no say in forest governance.

Logging Communities To Protest Over US$5.5M Government Owes Them

August 2, 2021

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Banner Image: Elders of Gbi-Doru District, Nimba County, stage a sleep-in protest at the headquarters of the Forestry Development Authority in Paynesville in 2019. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – Rural communities in Liberia affected by large-scale logging concession will on Tuesday begin a weeklong sit-in protest at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning for more than US$5.5 million the government owes them in land rental fees, their union said on Sunday.

“We are calling on the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to ensure that communities affected by logging operations in Liberia get their just benefits, especially the 30 percent shares of land rental fees paid by logging companies to the government of Liberia,” the National Union of Community Forestry Development Committee (NUCFDC) said.

The union called on the Ministry of Finance to make sure it apportions at least US$2 million into the next national budget whose hearings are ongoing at the Legislature.

The government’s failure to pay communities their share of land rental fees is a violation of the National Forestry Reform Law of 2006. The law mandates the government to transfer 30 percent of land rental fees logging companies pay to communities for development purposes.

But the NUCFDC said that has not happened since the fiscal year 2015/2016. The government has paid only US$2.6 million since the law came into being and still owes communities over US$5.5 million from the US$27.7 million it has collected from loggers ever since.

Vincent Doe, the president of the National Union of Community Forest Development Committee, reads the group’s petition at the Legislature on September 3, 2020. The DayLight/Harry Browne

The outstanding amount also undermines Liberia’s Volunteer Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union, which calls for fair sharing of timber resources. It also contravenes the community pillar of the country’s forestry reform, which ended decades in which rural areas did not benefit from forest resources and had no say in forest governance. The peak of that marginalization happened during Liberia’s bloody 14-year civil war, which saw warring factions use logging proceeds to fund their wars.

The planned protest this week would make it the third year in a row that the union has taken action for the payment. It has petitioned the Legislature in the last two years but to no avail. The union said in the release it had contacted the Ministry of Finance and the Forestry Development Authority but got no redress.

“It is still regrettable that the government is yet to do anything in addressing this issue of communities receiving their share of land rental fees as required by law,” the union said.

The Ministry of Finance did not respond to queries for comment on the matter.

It represents 23 community forestry development committees (CFDCs) within seven forest management contract (FMC) and nine timber sale contract (TSC) areas in Lofa, Gbarpolu, River Cess, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, Sinoe, River Gee, Grand Kru, Maryland, Grand Bassa and Grand Cape Mount. FMC covers forests between 50,000 and 400,000 hectares; while TSC falls within forestlands of not more than 5,000 hectares.

Forestry is one the biggest contributors to the Liberian budget, with the sector generating US$8,148,559 10.23% of total revenue in the 2018/2019 period, according to the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI).

Opinion: Scale-up Seaweed into The Global Food System to Address Nutrition Challenges, Improve Livelihood, and Reduce Greenhouse Gases Emission

August 1, 2021

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Banner Image: An infographic depicting the multiple contributions of seaweed to human nutrition and health. The DayLight/Ambulah Mamey

By Ambulah Mamey

We are for more years left to meet the 2025 global nutrition targets: 40% reduction in the number of stunted under-5 children, 50% reduction of anemia in women of reproductive age, 30% reduction in low birth weight, zero increase in child overweight, 50% increase in the rate of exclusive breastfeeding, reduce and keep child wasting below 5%, but progress remains unimpressive. There are spots of progress but in many countries, we are seeing high undernourishment, obesity, and other diet-related non-communicable diseases overlapping each other. As of 2020, stunting- which is one of the most dangerous threats to human development- was affecting 149 million children while over 500 million adults suffering from obesity. As the COVID-19 disrupts access to food, slashes income, and pushes families to consume unhealthy food, the malnutrition trend may get worst especially for people in poor and conflict-affected countries and for women and children.

The state of nutrition is worrisome because of the number of lives involved, but also because the impact of malnutrition transcends the number of people it affects. Nutrition deficiencies can overburden health systems and disrupt economic transformation. We have seen this spillover effect in Africa, where under and over-nutrition is respectively costing 3 and 16 percent of annual GDP, and treating child undernutrition is costing up to 11 percent of the continent’s already inadequate public health budget. Reversing this trend- especially reducing chronic malnutrition by just 40%- could help Africa save up to US$ 83 billion. This same cost saving can be said for other parts of the world and in both cases, Seaweed can play unique complementary roles.

Diversified Food Systems, Not Only Health Systems, Will Address Global Nutrition Deficiencies

Health systems- all by themselves- will not address the corrosive global nutrition problem, including child stunting, iodine deficiency in pregnant and lactating women, and heart disease, etc. We need to focus on diet, and this will require an urgent transformation of the food system. Such transformation demands- among other things- that the crop agricultural production system is diversified enough to produce the right quantity and quality of calorie-rich food and the right quantity and quality of micronutrients and mineral-rich food. Already, a lot of work has been done to diversify the food system but to date the system and the financing mechanisms (subsidy, grants, loans, private capital, blended finance) and institutions that drive them to remain focused largely on producing staples and less on producing food rich in micronutrients and minerals. Efforts to integrate nutrition into the food systems by increasing the production of micronutrient dense crops, including fruits, vegetables and nuts have left much more to desire. Production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts remains low, resulting in a high unaffordable price of a healthy diet. In the US for example, a healthy diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, could be at least US$ 1.50 more than a diet rich in calories; according to a Harvard study. In parts of Africa, a healthy diet can cost up to 69% more than the price of unhealthy food choices.; revealing that even those living above the World Bank poverty line (1.90 a day) cannot afford a healthy diet.

Use Seaweed to Fill the Micronutrient and Mineral- Rich Food Gap

The challenges being faced by the crop agricultural production system to produce the needed quantity of food rich in micronutrients and minerals, the current state of malnutrition, the slow paste of progress in addressing malnutrition, and the adverse impact of COVID-19 on nutrition, demand we prioritize other complementary sources of micronutrient and mineral-rich food. It is at this point we call for the insertion and scaling up of Seaweed into the food system. Seaweeds are a good source of B1, B2 B12, C, fat-soluble vitamins, and a good source of iodine, protein, and dietary fiber. The protein concentration in Seaweed- especially red seaweed- can be up to 47% and the vitamins in seaweed can provide health benefits including decreasing blood pressure, preventing cardiovascular diseases, or reducing the risk of cancer. Japanese frequently eat Seaweeds- something that is likely contributing to their relatively longer lifespan since Seaweed can prevent lifestyle-related diseases. Seaweed is the best source of iodine– a mineral that plays a very critical role in the physical growth and cognitive development of young children. For obesity, we have seen evidence of how seaweed- especially brown seaweed- could inhibit weight gain, prevent obesity, and save people battling obesity from the high costs and hazardous side effects of anti-obesity drugs. Nutrition deficiencies can also be addressed through the income pathway- where households use their income to purchase nutritious food. On this pathway, seaweeds can also play a meaningful role. The rapid growth rate and short farming cycles of Seaweed enable farmers to generate income fast enough to meet food and households need once markets are functional. In some communities, seaweed farming has been the major income-generating activity- next to artisanal farming only.

Seaweed is not a “civil bullet” for addressing nutrition deficiencies. However, Seaweed can complement and do so like no other. Unlike the crop agriculture production system that provides food, vitamins, and mineral but at a high cost to the environment, seaweed can provide important vitamins, and minerals while protecting the environment. For example, Seaweed can reduce ocean acidification and when used in animal feed, reduce methane emission from cattle by 82%.

As we head to the 2021 Global Food Summit this September, stakeholders must make and uphold bold and timebound financial and other commitments to supporting establishments like the Safe Seaweed Coalition that are leading the seaweed revolution. When fulfilled, such commitments could be used to address issues on both the supply and demand side of the seesawed subsector. On the supply side, resources could be sued to improve farming techniques to increase production but importantly reduce any potential adverse effect of farmers (especially women) staying longer time farming in water. On the demand side, the resources could be used to conduct an extensive country-specific randomized controlled trial to build and lift evidence on the bioavailability of nutrients in specific species of seaweed, their degree of efficacy in addressing nutrition deficiencies, and the most appropriate culinary methods that can ensure the bioavailability. Resources could also be used to build regulatory systems to address food safety concerns and increase consumers’ confidence in consuming seaweed.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not represent the opinion of The DayLight.

Ambulah Mamey is Agricultural Development Practitioner, based in the United States. He is skilled and experienced in the design and management of agricultural development projects.

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