Resource information
In 2014, Natural Habitats Sierra Leone took over an existing land lease from WAA2, covering theentire Makpele Chiefdom in Pujehun District,Sierra Leone. It quickly became apparent that not all communities were happy with the existing lease and that negotiations lacked free, prior and informed consent of all stakeholders.
Natural Habitats immediately started a consultative process within the chiefdom and established Development and Grievance Committee to settle any unresolved conflicts. NHSL team engaged with the landowner association and reached three Land Owner Agreements (LOAs). Even though the company tried to make the negations process as transparent as possible, the tensions between different stakeholder groups were still present within the chiefdom.
In 2016, Natural Habitats Sierra Leone joined forces with the civil society organisation to help with the land tenure and livelihoods support processes. The collaboration was enabled through the DFIDfunded LEGEND programme. The programme included facilitation of stakeholder consultations, training on land governance and land rights in the local dialect and support to farmers to organise themselves and apply good agronomic practices for production of vegetables, groundnuts, cassava and rice.