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Public Agenda (Accra)

Ghana: Land Grabbing And Disempowerment

21 April 2008

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Accra — This is the story of how a Norwegian biofuel company took advantage of Africa's traditional system of communal land ownership and current climate and economic pressure to claim and deforest large tracts of land in the Kusawgu Traditional Area of Northern Ghana; with the intention of creating "the largest jatropha plantation in the world".

By passing official development authorization and using methods that hark back to the darkest days of colonialism, this investor claimed legal ownership of these lands by deceiving an illiterate chief to sign away 38,000 hectares with his thumb print. This is contained in a report titled "Biofuel land grabbing in Northern Ghana" written by Bakari Nyari, Vice Chairman of Regional Advisory and Information Network Systems (RAINS), Ghana and African Biodiversity Network Steering Committee member.

In November 2007, a team from RAINS discovered massive destruction of vegetation cover over a large stretch of land near a village called Alipe within the White Volta River basin about 30 kilometres from Tamale, the capital town of the Northern region of Ghana. Heavy agricultural machinery were systematically pulling down trees, most importantly sheanut trees and decimating the area a few metres south of the village.

Enquiries revealed that the site was to be the beginning of a large jatropha plantation developed by a Norwegian biofuel company called BioFuel Africa - a subsidiary of Bio Fuel Norway (www.biofuel.no). At a public engagement session in Kusawgu, the traditional capital of the Kusawgu Division of the Gonja Traditional Council, Mr. Finn Byberg, Director of Land Acquisition for BioFuel Africa, unashamedly confessed that the land was being stripped for biofuel production.

The discovery of the cleared land brought the realization that the battle against land grabbing and community disempowerment was no longer just happening in other countries, but also in Ghana. In collaboration with the Central Gonja District Assembly and the Environmental Protection Agency, work was suspended on the development site, but not before 2, 600 hectares of land had been deforested.

The facts began to emerge - a big fish in government was promoting the project and had deployed his business associates in the region to front for him.

This front man was immediately employed as the Local Manager of BioFuel Africa. The EPA then insisted that they must go through the processes of having an Environmental Impact Assessment made. During a public consultative forum in the community the team had a face-to-face confrontation Mr. Finn Byberg, Director of Land Acquisition for BioFuel Africa in the village square in front of the Chief's palace on the illegal acquisition of land in pour communities.

Rural communities who are desperate for incomes are enticed by developers who promise them a "better future" under the guise of jobs with the argument that they are currently only just surviving from the "unproductive land" and that they stand to earn a regular income if they give up the land for development. In its April 4 edition titled "Afram Plains Sold to Foreign Investor", Public Agenda raised the alarm over the sale of large tracks of farm land to a foreign investor, who sacked the farmers. It has just been confirmed that the investor intends to use the land for cultivating Biofeul to the detriment of food production.

The acquisition the so-called 'unproductive lands' fails to appreciate the African view of the meaning of the land to the community. While the initial temptation to give up the land to earn a wage is great, it portends an ominous future where the community's sovereignty, identity and their sense of community is lost because of the fragmentation that the community will suffer.

According to the report, the strategy for the acquisition of the land often takes the following course: The imaginations of a few influential leaders in the community are captured. They are told about prospects for the community due to the project and they are swayed with promises of positions in the company or with monetary inducements.

The idea is that these people do the necessary "footwork" in the villages where they spread the word about job opportunities. A document is then prepared, essentially a contract, to lease the land to the company. In the event of problems the developer can press their claim by enforcing the 'contract' or agreement. When the legality of the process is not adequately scrutinized, the developers have their way but, subject to proper scrutiny, it emerges that these contracts are not legally binding as they have not gone through the correct legal channels.

This is what happened in this particular case in the Alipe area.

RAINS immediately contacted the District Chief Executive (DCE), the political head of the District to inquire about the project. Neither he nor the District

Assembly had any information about it. He had noticed the work on the site and was in the process of finding the "culprits" because they did not have any planning permission to undertake the development.

The DCE was advised to use the planning powers conferred on the District Assembly under the Local Government Act 1993 Act 462 to stop the destruction of the vegetation.

Under this law nobody can undertake any development of land without seeking the prior approval of the District Assembly of the area. In this particular case the Assembly could not stop them owing perhaps to the highly politicized nature of the Assembly process and the vulnerability of the personnel there.

Eventually, using the Environmental Assessment Regulations LI 1652, we managed to get them to stop the destruction but not before more than 2 600 hectares of land had been stripped of its natural vegetation cover.

On the 28th January 2008 when the RAINS team met in the chief's palace to discuss other issues pertaining to the acquisition of land, it became clear to all present that BioFuel Africa's promises were really a hoax. With the level of community engagements that we made in the villages, it was obvious to the local communities that the development would cause more danger to the survival of the community than any benefits that would arise from it. The communities understood the impact that such a project would have on their lives individually and on the community in general. But how long will this hold as they sit idle for the rest of the year until the rains come in April? There was conviction that the promises of jobs and a new improved life would not materialize because Mr Finn Byberg, the Chairman of BioFuel Africa confessed, during his presentation that he could not state categorically what commitments the company would make. He said, "Commitments are not very easy and so when I am required to make these, I need to be very careful. I do not want to be caught for not keeping my word.". This was incorporated in the argument that his company was still learning. This made it clear that our land is being used for experimentation. Mr Byberg's promise of jobs, shared prosperity and improved livelihoods - the Company's main benefit to the community - were not really commitments for which the community could hold him to, but were mere campaign gimmicks.

Unmasking the hoax of the jatropha project.

Most vocal indeed were the women at the session. Looking Mr Finn Byberg in the face a women asked, "Look at all the sheanut trees you have cut down already and considering the fact that the nuts that I collect in a year give me cloth for the year and also a little capital. I can invest my petty income in the form of a ram and sometimes in a good year, I can buy a cow. Now you have destroyed the trees and you are promising me something you do not want to commit yourself to. Where then do you want me to go? What do you want me to do?"

The response from Mr Byberg was to express regret and a promise not to repeat it.

This was the tone in which the session ended.

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