This publication presents five background reviews to understand the developments in oil palm plantations in the Cross River State in Nigeria. It covers topics as the ecological impacts in the landscape, the historical background, the political side, the social impacts and the capacity gaps and needs related to oil palm plantations Tropenbos International commissioned these series of backgrounds reviews under the framework of the Green Livelihoods Alliance. 

Cross River State had the largest tropical rainforest area in Nigeria and has always been one of the biggest producers of export crops in this country. As such, the state has suffered from serious forest loss due to the expansion of plantation agriculture, particularly for oil palm. But how destructive are oil palm plantations for the region and its people? According to Raphael Ayama Offiong from the University of Calabar, the answer is largely missing, because there is a significant lack of data on both the current state of oil palm plantations in Cross River State as well as their environmental and social impacts.

Since 1907, Cross River State has lost more than two thirds of its forest area to large scale plantations, in which oil palm alone occupies 62.5% of the cultivated area. Plantation estates are found around the tropical rainforest belt of the state because of the fertile soil and conducive environment. More and more estates are being established by multinational companies along the fringes of reserve forest areas, exposing the remaining rainforests to the threats of deforestation, degradation and biodiversity loss.

Expansion of oil palm as the major driver of forest loss in Cross River State is having strong negative impacts on biodiversity and the livelihoods of local communities. Plantations require the clearing of forests, resulting in the modification and degradation of the environment. Local people are then impoverished due to the loss of a forest as a source of income, land, social and cultural values, and intense conflicts from land grabbing issues. Deforestation is also expanding due to increased encroachment and slash and burn practices, related to new road access and escalating poverty.

Nevertheless, the total area of oil palm plantations in Cross River State is not known, neither their actual impacts on the forests and forest-dependent communities. In order to propose research and policy developments that could have an impact on uncontrolled oil palm expansion, we have to know the area of oil palm plantations, and their environmental and social impacts in the entire state. 

A conducive environment and government interest are factors that have contributed to the resurgence of the oil palm industry in Nigeria, though “cycles of tragedy [are] often caught up with those who learnt nothing from previous occurrences”, said Sylvester Akhaine from Lagos State University. The absence of clear policy on environment and human security issues in agricultural regulations of central authorities and state governments in relation to oil palm production, has led to negative impacts on land and people.

This analysis of colonial experience in oil palm trade revealed an intriguing concern regarding displacement of local communities, by showing a willingness to avoid the forceful removal of people from their land. However, post-colonial governments were drawn by the economic benefits of oil palm production and neglected to consider the impact on indigenous people and ecosystems they lived in. Special attention was raised by civil society organisations (CSOs) and NGOs on oppressive processes of land acquisition and shady negotiations between oil palm companies and governments, along with unfair labour practices imposed on local people.

In Cross River State, the richest rainforest region in Nigeria, this policy review showed that there are no clear governance guidelines in the oil palm sector, apart from expanding production to generate more resources. At federal level, the Presidential Initiative for Vegetable Oil Development (VODEP) policy and Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) programme indicated poor continuity due to the speed of policy transition. Cross River State government is inclined to sacrifice its well-crafted poverty alleviation programmes like Cross River Agricultural and Rural Empowerment Scheme (CARES), to support multinational oil palm companies who are in a scramble for the oil palm belt. Other legal instruments include the Land Use Act (1978), the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (1992), and Cross River State Forestry Commission Law No.3 (2010) but which are now at variance with agribusiness that can explain the dispute between companies like PZ Wilmar and local communities.

The missing link between policy, the need for investment and the wellbeing of the forest people in the state, therefore, calls for the necessity to mainstream environment and human security issues in memorandums of understanding between government and oil palm companies, and to advocate with governments so they appreciate the centrality of people in the policy process. 

“In the competition between forest conservation and oil palm plantation expansion in Nigeria, the losers appear to be indigenous communities” said Abiodun Baiyewu-Teru, Country Director of Global Rights Nigeria. It is evident that the negative impacts of oil palm production on local people, particularly women and children, far outweigh the benefits that come with it.

The rich biodiversity of Nigeria once vast forests is fast disappearing due largely to the development of oil palm plantations. While the federal and state governments appear interested in conserving remaining rainforest areas, they also desperately want to boost the economic gains for the state and therefore, end up between two conflicting priorities - conservation and agricultural development. However, the human factor seems to be forgotten in the process, as both companies and governments fail to engage with communities in obtaining their free, prior and informed consent, by only consulting community chiefs rather than a larger and more democratic representation of the entire community. In addition, oil palm companies often ignore compulsory environmental and social impact assessments, which are explicitly required by law.

Among those who suffer most from negative impacts, Baiyewu emphasized that they are mostly indigenous peoples and the most vulnerable, including women and children. Gender inequality remains an issue, and land grabbing takes away women’s rights to be consulted and compensated. Barred from accessing forest resources, women are less able to practice subsistence farming and meet the nutritional needs of their families. Finding another occupation is a challenge for them and even when they are recruited for work in plantations, they earn much less than when managing their own smallholder farmlands. As a result, this deepens women’s dependence on men and broadens the gender gap. Children may then be withdrawn from school, engaged in child labour and suffer malnutrition. Moreover, environmental shifts may lead to increased labour, reduced productivity and health and human wellbeing issues.

“At the heart of law, development, governance and business lies people and communities”, noted Baiyewu. It is thus important that the government takes this into account, to prevent growing negative impacts of oil palm plantations by prioritizing the rights and welfare of its people in the quest for economic development.  

More than 90% of the Nigerian landscape has been cleared for agriculture, leading to negative social and environmental impacts. Although indigenous communities, with the help of civil society organisations (CSOs), NGOs and academia have been making major efforts in calling attention to the issue, they are still struggling to have their voices heard due to a significant lack of capacity and resources for advocacy purpose, according to Fidelis Allen, Acting Director of Centre for Conflict and Gender Studies, Nigeria.

In Cross River State, land and the people are facing serious threats from land grabbing, deforestation and biodiversity loss. The intensity of conflict between communities and CSOs on the one hand and oil palm companies and the state government on the other hand has escalated dramatically. The main reasons are insufficient consultation with local people, violation of extant laws and policies, and destruction of high conservation value forest areas. It can be clearly seen that improper governance of the oil palm industry, with corporations increasingly searching for investment opportunities to expand their landholdings in Nigeria, is happening at the expense of indigenous communities.

In the midst of this conflict, CSOs and academia have been actively working together to help communities and bring the issues into the limelight. However, their efforts still remain rudimentary due to several obstacles. Research is a key need, but they lack in-house research capacity and financial resources to fill all of the gaps in required knowledge, and to engage researchers on a regular basis. In addition, questions and fears of what the industry would do to local farming populations and their forests in Nigeria have received only limited academic attention to date. Community leaders also do not have adequate advocacy skills and gender and conflict sensitivities have not yet received sufficient attention.

Allen therefore recommends that NGOs, CSOs and academia establish a coalition specifically for research, advocacy and capacity building purposes. Other crucial actions that are also needed are to develop a mechanism for sharing analysis and actions on regular basis, and to reduce gender inequality and avoid physical violence in the struggle for best practices in large scale agriculture sector.