By Mustapha Sesay
The executive director of ActionAid, Sierra Leone has informed the media his organization has received international backing from twenty countries in the fight against "land grabbing" in Africa.
Mohamed Sillah made this announcement while issuing a news released to journalists at his office in Aberdeen, Freetown. He said the twenty countries included Kenya, Tanzania, India Cambodia Denmark, Italy, USA, France and the Netherlands.
Mr. Sillah said the support of those countries was important in the campaign against land grabbing because "most of these multi-national companies that are involved in the business of large scale land acquisition get their funding from some of the countries that are part of our campaign," adding that "this would force them to adopt the right policies that would favor the land owners.
The communication officer of actionaid, Aruna Kamara said that their campaign against land grabbing is to ensure that land tenure system is maintained and that poor land owners, especially women, are not deprived of their livelihood, adding that most often the jobs provided by the multi-national companies are not commensurate to what the people used to get from their lands.
Mr. Kamara also stated that they want government to put a stop to all land lease agreements and to look at the existing policies that cover land lease agreements in order to come up with a legal regulatory framework that would ensured that there are no loopholes in large-scale land acquisition.
Moreover, the news release issued by actionaid states that, "incentives offered to investors are increasing hunger and poverty; governments are turning to private capital to fill the massive shortfall in public spending, but too often this blind rush for investment is leading to land grabs which are leaving communities landless, homeless and hungry. Growth cannot be achieved at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable."
The release further highlights that a continuation of the current macro-economic based strategy and creating further incentives for large scale land deals would only result in more "hardship, distress, and poverty" for some of the poorest communities, and therefore called on government to guarantee the legitimate rights of land users including women in reforming land laws and investment codes so that small scale food producers, not only investors "are also part of the driver's seat of development."
(C) Politico 29/05/14
