Latest News from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross are supporting Christian Aid and their partner Council of Churches Sierra Leone (CCSL) in the Malen District with our fundraising project entitled “Liloma” – a word in the local language meaning ‘Hope for the Future’.

The Rev. Tony Murphy visited Sierra Leone to meet with the community in Malen and shares his experiences with us in a detailed report about the project background and actions that have been taken to date:

As I was in the country, the Country Director of Christian Aid, Mattia Dimoh, was kind enough to facilitate a meeting in the Christian Aid Office in Freetown attended by Kezia Kargbo, General Secretary of CCSL, Joseph Rahal, Green Scenery Sierra Leone, Christain Aid Staff and a number of participants from Malen Province with direct experience of their land being disposed.

I am deeply grateful for the Country Director for bringing such a group together to allow me to deepen my understanding of the situation in Malen and to hear direct personal testimony. In addition to the items directly covered at the meeting I am offering an explanatory note on the overall background in the country. Of course, this and my summary of points discussed at the meeting are my personal reflections and do not represent policy positions either of Christian Aid or the Council of Churches.

Sierra Leone is a country on the Atlantic Coast in West Africa. Its size and population are broadly comparable to the island of Ireland. Sierra Leone is ranked amongst the lowest income countries in the world. The simplest measure of comparison is Human Development Index (HDI) which measures Education, Mortality and standard of living. Out of 193 Countries Ireland ranks 8 th while Sierra Leone ranks 184th.

The challenges facing the country are enormous with a weak government and fragile democracy, economic challenges of unemployment and low productivity, and social challenges of poverty and inequality. While these characteristics might be shared by other countries Sierra Leone experienced two other crises: a civil war with major human rights abuses throughout the 1990’s and the worst outbreak of Ebola in the world between 2014-2016.

This might sound like a litany of despair but one has to be amazed at the resilience of the people and the level of forgiveness after a civil war which had been characterised by major human rights violations, the presence of young educated and talented people trying to change the culture and Church Organisations and NGO’s working on development projects and cases of human rights violation such as the Malen project.

The government structure of Sierra Leone a democracy (albeit allegations of interference in elections) with a Parliament and Executive President. Effectively the government rotates between two major tribes – one in the North of the country the other in the South. Paralleling this is a traditional Chiefdom Structure. The balance between Government and Chiefdom structure is not clear but no president can ignore the roles of the Paramount Chiefs in their area. Of relevance to the Liloma project is that the government treats property as being communal, with land leased out to members of the Chiefdom rather than being sold or held privately.

Société Financière des Caoutchoucs S.A. (Socfin) is a Luxembourg company mainly owned by the Bollore Group of France and the Hubert Fabri family of Luxembourg. The company operates in various countries through managing subsidiaries involved in joint ventures with governments and entrepreneurs. Founded in 1909 in the colonial era Socfin manages palm oil and rubber plantations. The group claims to be a major player in regional economic development through its “responsible tropical agriculture, addressing basic social needs while protecting the environment”.

In Ireland it would be inconceivable that any multinational company could take possession of two thirds of farmland in any county. However, in Sierra Leone, where land is “leased”, a combination of local and state agencies working with a multi national company can overcome resistance from less well organised landholders.

In 2011 the Malen landholders found themselves facing an unprecedented challenge. Socfin began to seek land in Sierra Leone by focusing all its activities in their chiefdom, 1 out of the 190. However the company did not approach the Chiefdom to lease lands. Instead the Ministry of Agriculture leased the land and subsequently offered the land to Socfin on a 50 year lease with an option to renew for an additional 25 years.

Of course, the agreement would not have been possible without the strong support of the Paramount Chief in Malen. Supported by the police, the Paramount Chief pressurised local chiefs and landowners to sign lease documents telling local landholders that they would lose the land in any event but without any compensation if they did not sign.

From the outset the communities denounced the agreement as illegal, protest took place, people were arrested, and in one case some people were shot dead. However, this poorly organised resistance was quickly overcome by the Paramount Chief, the Ministry and the Government. Socfin has now signed leases bringing their holding to 17,724 hectares, or two thirds of the arable land in the Chiefdom, compared to the original Memorandum of Understanding between Socfin and the Government which had a limit of 12,000 hectares assigned to cultivated plantations.

This has directly affected over 30,000 people in 50 villages while less than 4,000 people have received employment from Socfin.

The effect of this has been that smallholders have lost their access to upland where they grow staple food such as rice, vegetables, fruits etc. Additionally, they have lost access to cash crops such as coffee and cocoa and are now heavily dependent on food markets, where subsequently prices are very high due to lack of food. Additionally there have been significant social consequences with breakup of families, husbands leaving the Chiefdom, families migrating to neighbouring chiefdoms and food shortages.

In December 2024 the President of Sierra Leone visited Socfin Agricultural Company (SAC) to inaugurate the extension of their palm oil mill. In a press statement SAC notes that “The president used this opportunity to commend the positive impact of SAC and gives his support to the plantation, as well as to reassure the residents of Malen. He also praised the good and improving relationships between SAC and communities.”

In this situation of injustice the response and attempts to remedy wrongs rest with NGO’s and Church Organisations. The background as outlined is dispossessed and indeed disoriented groups whose traditional way of life had been upended. The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL) of which Christian aid is a partner launched a project entitled “Livelihoods Enhancement and Assets for Peace” (LEAP) in the Malen Chiefdom.

The overall aim of this project was initially to enhance the local capacities of 200 women through livelihood and socio-economic empowerment for self reliance and resilience. This has two broad approaches:

• Organise and support women to generate an income through helping with financial resources to start small scale businesses and providing basic farming tools to produce food crops that will sustain them in these new circumstances.

• Lift up the moral of communities and empower them to develop sustainable forms of living in this new context. This is focused on training in conflict mitigation. Sierra Leone had come through an horrific war in the 1990’s and – while there are clear issues with SAC and social issues arising from displacement – as a Christian group the focus is to train people on peace building processes that address their vulnerability and hopefully will ultimately lead to fair and just resolution of conflict in Malen Chiefdom.

So far, 450 displaced women and men in 21 communities in Malen and two neighbouring chiefdoms were trained and equipped in entrepreneurship, financial management and agriculture for sustainable livelihood enhancement. Women are actively engaged in trading and agricultural activities such as cassava and groundnut gardening. Such gardening has produced some financial leverage and allowed them to access loans to improve their livelihoods. It has also improved the status of women within their household and communities.

This is obviously an ongoing project and with greater financial input the projects can reach more communities in the Chiefdom. Of equal value is a realisation amongst the disposed people that they are not alone and that people, even from further way, are aware of their plight and trying to help to ameliorate the situation.

If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to contact the Rev. Tony Murphy.