MONROVIA, June 10 -- One of the decisive moments in social justice advocacies for land rights in the recent history of Liberia came in 2011, when rural communities, wrote a letter of complaint against the Sime Darby Plantation Company to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The communities letter of complaint essentially cited violations of land rights, accompanied by disruptions to the socio-economic and cultural life of the local communities, and failure by the company to abide by the principle of Free, Prior, Informed, Consent (FPIC).

By Baba Sillah, Special for New Narratives

The Sime Darby concession agreement was signed with the Government of Liberia in 2009 for a Gross Concession Area of 311,187 hectares spanning the bo...