Nigeria - More land Grab, More Displaced

The North-Eastern Nigerian State of Taraba is on the verge of handing over 30,000 hectares of land to Dominion Farms. The Memorandum of Understanding of the public-private partnership was signed in February 2012. The mega-project is expected to reduce Nigerian rice imports by 15%. But what is been described as the prelude to Nigeria's rice revolution could result in livelihood losses for about 45,000 inhabitants who will have to vacate their lands. This intervention also raises concerns about the depletion of an important grazing area: Mutum Biyu Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, where the land being given to Dominion is located, is said to metamorphose into a "Lagos of Cows" during the Harmattan season.

Dominion Rice Farms and Integrated Ltd. aiming to cultivate and process mainly rice on an area of 30,000 hectares has taken off by importing equipment and establishing an administration at the site. The company is expected to reduce Nigeria's rice imports by 15%, thereby creating 15,000 jobs. The Taraba State government promises to build a school, a hospital and a road that connects the area of Gassol with the highway between Wukari and Jalingo. There are also plans to reactivate existing silos and Gassol's water treatment plant. The rosy picture of progress arriving in Gassol further includes talks to supply the community with electricity from a hydro power plant that Dominion intends to build. Only 10% of the farm is going to be turned to a plantation and the remaining land is meant to be given out to locals participating in a contract farming scheme - a term suggesting socially inclusive development.


The fertile land at the edge of the Rivers Benue and Taraba is reported to have "laid fallow for decades" and to "belong to the Federal Government" by a Lagos based daily. A visit on the ground revealed that the land is inhabited and farmed by indigenous people who claim ownership of the land through customary rights. Nevertheless, the His Royal Highness, Alhaji Idris Chiroma, Lamido Gassol, who is the custodian of the land agreed to the handover.

In May 2012 a land acquisition notice - oddly marked "secret" - directed affected land property owners to take part in an assessment for compensation. As a result, about 3,000 holders of land titles were identified. However, according to Chief Alhaji Idris Chiroma, the area contains up to 45,000 inhabitants.

• "I am informing you; in Nigeria we don't have a place that we can call our own, especially in Taraba and Gassol. We are extending our cries to the government to look into this topic with compassion. Help us, so we also have a sense of belonging as other Nigerians. We really know we are Nigerians, but the way it seems to us is that government treats as non-citizens. We want the government to know that we are proud to be Nigerian citizens. Whatever has been done in Nigeria should also be extended to us. The cattle routes should be open because that causes the problem between cattle graziers and farmers."
  

His Highness, Ardo Guruza, Mutum Biyu

Future will tell if displaced and landless indigenous people trying to feed their families will have no other option than to work for Dominion. In that case, the proposed contract farming scheme could turn out to be rather exploitive instead of tackling poverty. Anyways, it is doubtable if the work of a farmer in a highly mechanized contract farming scheme is going to differ from the one of a usual plantation worker. According to journalist Mary Mwendwa, Dominion Farms in Kenya employs women largely as casual laborers with an average wage of 1.82 dollars per day.

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Nigeria: Landgrabbing for Nigeria's rice revolution

Peter Jopke

The North-Eastern Nigerian State of Taraba is on the verge of handing over 30,000 hectares of land to Dominion Farms. The Memorandum of Understanding of the public-private partnership was signed in February 2012. The mega-project is expected to reduce Nigerian rice imports by 15%. But what is been described as the prelude to Nigeria's rice revolution could result in livelihood losses for about 45,000 inhabitants who will have to vacate their lands. This intervention also raises concerns about the depletion of an important grazing area: Mutum Biyu Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, where the land being given to Dominion is located, is said to metamorphose into a "Lagos of Cows" during the Harmattan season.
Taraba/Gassol, Mutum Biyu L.G.A. - Dominion Rice Farms and Integrated Ltd. aiming to cultivate and process mainly rice on an area of 30,000 hectares has taken off by importing equipment and establishing an administration at the site. The company is expected to reduce Nigeria's rice imports by 15%, thereby creating 15,000 jobs. The Taraba State government promises to build a school, a hospital and a road that connects the area of Gassol with the highway between Wukari and Jalingo. There are also plans to reactivate existing silos and Gassol's water treatment plant. The rosy picture of progress arriving in Gassol further includes talks to supply the community with electricity from a hydro power plant that Dominion intends to build. Only 10% of the farm is going to be turned to a plantation and the remaining land is meant to be given out to locals participating in a contract farming scheme - a term suggesting socially inclusive development.

- See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22995#sthash.aawICYWM.dpuf