2. Background and Purpose of the Field Visit
This mission was quickly arranged after the visit of several key Liberian government delegates to the international Governors Climate and Forest Task Force meeting at the
REDD Technical Working Group Conference held in late May 2010 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Two of the representatives, Moses Wogbeh, the Managing Director of the
Forest Development Agency FDA and Hon. Milton Teahjay, Superintendent of Sinoe County, were informed that Golden VerOleum, a subsidiary of the major Indonesian
palm oil company Sinar Mas, was about to embark on a field mission to negotiate major new plantation establishment in Liberia. Sinoe County, which contains the biologically
rich Sapo National Park and other important natural forest areas, was identified by the company as a key county within the approximately 500,000 hectare Gross Interest Area
for its concession.
Accordingly, Superintendent Teahjay and FDA MD Mr. Wogbeh requested technical support from Fauna and Flora International FFI in the pending negotiations with the
delegation from Golden Veroleum. They also requested that FFI engage in a series of advisory talks with various stakeholders around the theme of sustainable oil palm
development, including FDA, Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Ministry of Agriculture MoA, and senior officials of Sinoe County, one of the potential hosts for
the future oil palm concession. It was hoped that FFI could join with the government delegation in Sinoe County in the field and in Monrovia prior to the departure of the
company’s representatives.
FFI offered the services of its Senior Advisor for Sustainable Palm Oil and Biofuels, Thomas Fricke, who is based in Indonesia, for this assignment. He is now working as a
consultant with FFI’s Corporate Engagement Division and with FFI-Indonesia, and has also worked with the IFC, USAID, UK Department of Environment, Food, and Rural
Affairs DEFRA, and a number of leading private oil palm companies in Southeast Asia. Currently, Fricke serves as an advisor to Irwandi Yusuf, the Governor of Aceh, in
developing the oil palm and biofuels components of his Aceh Green Vision. Through fast footwork and various intercontinental flight connections, Fricke was able to arrive in
Liberia on Thursday afternoon, May 27
th
and stay until Wednesday, June 2
nd
. Due to scheduling complications, neither the visit to Sinoe County nor the follow-on
negotiations with the Golden VerOleum delegation took place. The delegation actually left Liberia on Friday May 28
th
without meeting either Superintendent Teahjay, FDA MD Mr. Wogbeh, or the FFI advisor. Therefore, in place of the narrow focus on the Golden
VerOleum negotiations, the FFI advisor’s scope and objectives were broadened to include fact-finding, stakeholder consultations, and strategic recommendations for
sustainable oil palm development. Annex A at the rear of this document contains a list of the various individuals and institutions contacted during the brief visit. The list
encompasses various stakeholders including Liberian and foreign government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and local and international oil palm companies. The
latter includes a meeting with one of Golden VerOleum’s chief representatives in Liberia, former Minister of Agriculture Dr. Chris Toe, which hopefully will be followed up in
July in Indonesia.
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The advisor’s visit contained two key sessions involving FDA, representatives of Sinoe County, and FFI-Liberia Country Director Letla Mosenene. The first event was a
coordination meeting on Friday, May 28
th
, involving the FFI-Liberia Director, Superintendent Teahjay, FDA MD Mr. Wogbeh, and several of their respective
colleagues. At this meeting, the scope and focus of the Consultant’s visit was revised, and the decision was made to invite the advisor to make a presentation to a broad-
spectrum of stakeholders on the theme of “Best Practices for Oil Palm Plantation Development in Liberia” on Tuesday, June 1
st
in the FDA Boardroom. Invitations were issued to a number of Liberian and international agencies and individuals.
The purpose of the presentation was to provide technical information in support of sustainable production and processing of palm oil to benefit Liberia’s economic
development. It was agreed that such development needs to be in line with the government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy PRS and natural resource conservation
policies. Therefore, the presentation title was amended to “Best Practices, Opportunities, and Risks for Palm Oil Sector Development in Liberia: Reflections and
Recommendations”. The two-hour presentation was well-attended and covered the following topics:
1. Description of the principles and best practices of sustainable palm oil 2. Discussion of potential threats and challenges accruing from rapid oil palm
development scenarios
3. Review of the current situation and pending investments in the oil palm sector for creating income and employment opportunities for boosting Liberia’s economy and
preserving the peace
4. Description of a multi-stakeholder approach involving business, government, small holders, and NGOs that can promote sustainable oil palm development
FFI-Liberia Director Letla Mosenene and her spirited team provided excellent technical, logistical, and material support throughout this assignment. This included Letla and
Community Forestry Technical Advisor Richard Sambolah accompanying the advisor to traditional palm oil production areas and the general concession area of the large
Malaysian palm oil company Sime Darby in Grand Cape Mount County in northwest Liberia over the weekend of May 29
th
. This visit, which is documented by the photos in Annex D, provided very useful ground-truthing for the advisor and provided perspective
in formulating the conclusions and recommendations contained in Sections 6 and 7 of this report. He was able to meet a number of farmers, the staff of a local development
NGO, FACE, and a field agent for a company associated with the Sherman family, one of Liberia’s oil palm industry pioneers.
The advisor also benefitted greatly from information and insights provided by several environmental and development NGOs active in Liberia. These included Jessica
Donovan, Sean Griffin, and several of their colleagues at Conservation International CI- Liberia, Tate Munro of Winrock International, and the Program Director of the Liberian
NGO FACE. FFI-Liberia has a positive working relationships with CI and many of the
4
other NGOs working in conservation and agricultural development. It was clear during the visit that these NGOs have a great deal to contribute to the promotion of sustainable
palm oil SPO in Liberia. Collaboration between FFI and CI on SPO appears promising, and will be discussed in Sections 6 and 7 of this report.
Munro, who has served as Director of Winrock International’s USAID-funded Liberia Oil Palm Revitalization Project, was a valuable source of information about the Liberian
oil palm sector. He had organized the first Liberia Oil Palm Workshop and Trade Fair in Monrovia in January 2010 Annex B, which has opened by the Vice President of Liberia
and the Minister of Agriculture. During my visit, he made the decision to accept a position in Ethiopia, so hopefully his successor at Winrock will continue to pursue the
initiatives he has started.
The advisor also received very valuable inputs from principals of two international and local private sector companies—Peter Bayliss, Operational Manager of the United
Kingdom-based company Equatorial Palm Oil Ltd also known as Equatorial Bio Fuels and Haji V. Sherman of the Liberian entity Haj Group of Companies. Bayliss, who was
on his way to the UK, has extensive experience with two of the companies that are considered among the leaders within the RSPO—New Britain Palm Oil, Ltd. NBPOL in
Papua New Guinea and P.T. London Sumatra in Indonesia. His company has purchased 34,000 hectares of unmanaged plantations in Sinoe and Grand Bassa Counties, and is
pursuing eventual rehabilitation of up to 60,000 hectares in several locations. Equatorial Palm Oil is an active members of the RSPO and Bayliss indicated that they are eager to
cooperate with FFI in the field.
Sherman is the scion of one of Liberia’s pioneering oil palm families. In the 1980s, his uncle Charles Sherman set up a reportedly once-thriving 10,000 acre oil palm plantation
and modern oil extraction mill in Grand Cape Mount County under the aegis of the now- defunct West African Agricultural Corporation WAAC. The plantation is mostly
occupied by sharecroppers and the steel structure is all that remains of the mill Annex D. Sherman is trying to find a joint venture partner who will invest in revitalizing the
plantation and rebuilding the mill, but has not found partners he considers suitable.
3. Current Status of the Liberian Palm Oil Industry
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