Deal #1798 Version #89295

Mara, Makari and Bombali Sebora chiefdoms in Bombali district.

Since Sunbird took over the operations from Addax in 2016 stakeholder engagement is slowly diminishing and only happens when the company sees its own benefit. The community claims that the land agreement was not discussed entirely and the community was not given the opportunity for free and prior informed consent regarding some of the clauses in the lease agreement (another source states that the draft land lease was disclosed to the community for one year in order to obtain FPIC). ABSL invented a legal instrument, the so called Acknowledgement Agreements (AA). AAs are additional agreements that were signed with each landowning family when their land was about to be used for the project. ABSL hired a consultant specialised on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that would map the land together with the owners. AAs include an additional rent, which is paid directly to the land owner. AAs include a formal declaration of support for the project and a recognition of the Land Lease Agreement (LLA) signed by the paramount chiefs. A 2020 report claims that communication still remains a problem because formats like village level community meetings or multistakeholder meetings are no longer held regularly. As a result people are not adequately informed about the company and even left out. Information passed on to few representatives at meetings conducted by Sunbird is failing to trickle down to communities. Renegotiated land lease agreements were signed in 2019 between landowners represented by the chiefdom councils and the company. however, the agreement was rushed through by the company and signed without the consent of communities, landowners or land users. The final agreement is still not available to communities or the public.

Landowners feel that they have no choice but to accept the project as it was forced upon them by the president. The project was initially seen as an extension of the president’s wishes and was not to be rejected by local people. Renegotiated land lease agreements were signed in 2019 between landowners represented by the chiefdom councils and the company. however, the agreement was rushed through by the company and signed without the consent of communities, landowners or land users. The final agreement is still not available to communities or the public.

Space for expressing issues is shrinking under Sunbird majority ownership. Elephant grass is sometimes cut outside of operational areas causing conflict with local owners who expect compensation.

The bioenergy project was designed to avoid any relocation of communities. When Addax scaled down in 2015, people were temporarily permitted to use reserve lands that the company has earmarked for future use. Many communities took the opportunity to start farming these large areas of land. They were only permitted to plant short duration crops. Long duration crops like palm plantations were prohibited. This situation completely changed in 2019 after Browns Investments Plc invested in the company. Farmers have reported being chased away by company officials from their plantations in the reserved land. 13,617 according to one source; 30,000 on the lease area belonging to 92 land-owning groups, according to Addax Bioenergy’s spokesperson, another report states 25000 community members. The African Development Bank estimated that that about 13,600 people in 52 villages would be affected. Another source states that there have been no houses or villages physically relocated from the area. The farmland of many families and villages has been relocated. Company source states 53 villages within the project area. Under the new project taken over by new investors in 2016, it is expected that 300 people, living near the Tonka community, will be resettled in 2020. According to the Sierra Leone’s Environmental Protection Agency, the main reasons for the relocation plans are environmental concerns. Water sources have been contaminated and ethanol residue pollutes the air. The closeness to the factory also poses an evident danger in the case of a fire. Sunbird Bioenergy shared the relocation plans at a multi-stakeholder meeting in March 2019 where the community was informed that the relocation would likely start in 2020 and that it would be conducted in accordance with local laws and international standards.

Community members can no longer access their water source; the water which is available is contaminated by fertilizers. The bush fires have become more ferocious, posing a major challenge for the communities affected by Sunbird, destroying community properties but also company property. Villagers perceived serious health and environmental impacts of the agroindustry biofuel production. The company used fertilizers and different chemicals that entered the food system and local watercourses and thus had negative impacts during dry and during low water level of the main river. Silnorf stresses that the community members feel they are today left with two equally bad options; they cannot stay due to the pollution and the closeness to the factory, while a relocation entails a number of risks such as losing access to vital land. Furthermore, the area that the community will be relocated from holds important religious sites.

Compensation to the local chiefs and landowners (not necessarily the land users). 12 USD per ha per year, 64% of which goes directly to the owner ( the community claims that this compensation was not subject to negotiation and does not adequately reflect the benefit the community was giving up.

The company compensated the owners of crops and palm trees on the leased land with a small lump sum payment (6USD per tree). Landowners have highlighted that the payments for the acquired land and the destroyed crops did not compensate them adequately for what they had lost.

The community states that promises made by the company regarding boreholes (only in some villages), schools, clinics and community centres have not been realised, while the company denies having made these promises.

Farmer Development Programme that involves farmer training and ploughing community plots for three years and providing inputs of seed rice and fertilizer for communities, and has resulted in an increase in rice yields in the Addax Bioenergy project area, however this is not accessible for all affected community members. Provide rice to affected communities for the first three years of the project.

Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (Silnorf), a civil society organisation defending the rights of communities affected by the project. Through the intervention of civil society organizations, landowners and communities saw the contract and could participate in the negotiations during the renegotiation of land leases in 2019 (even though in the end this was rushed through and the final agreement is not available.