Deal #3214

The community claim the company used intimidation to acquire the plantation.

"The concession overlaps the customary territories of 33 villages, and thousands of indigenous people" "Communities’ access to the concession are nevertheless officially further restricted through the conversion from a logging to a conservation concession, e.g. hunting or cultivating. No socio-economic compensation contract or other form of agreement seems to have been signed between Jadora and local communities while they existed when it was still a logging concession"

"In villages situated around the Jadora/Safbois concession people told me that while they have received some short trainings on the objectives of the conservation concession to sequester carbon and on alternative agricultural practices (rotational monoculture), they have barely received any compensation in the first 7 years of Jadora concession’s existence despite being counted as beneficiaries in official evaluation reports."

The local chiefs state that the company promised to build clinics and schools, but this has not been delivered. From LeMonde: "The meager profits have all been plowed back into the project, said Mr. Ipoma. "$500 in cash was paid to each village in 2020, then again in 2021, but this year it was only $100," said Moïse Balumbo, president of a group of local associations. Rice, peanut and cowpea seeds have also been distributed, but for the villagers, it is not enough. "It's a distraction to keep us quiet," said one farmer. "We were promised significant benefits, but so far we have received almost nothing," said a teacher from Yafunga, in front of a school site abandoned by Jadora, "for lack of funding." The locals also blame Jadora for not playing fair. "We don't understand anything. Are they coming to exploit us or to protect us?" said an angry village chief.

From LeMonde: "The meager profits have all been plowed back into the project, said Mr. Ipoma. "$500 in cash was paid to each village in 2020, then again in 2021, but this year it was only $100," said Moïse Balumbo, president of a group of local associations. Rice, peanut and cowpea seeds have also been distributed, but for the villagers, it is not enough. "It's a distraction to keep us quiet," said one farmer.