Lack of adequate provision of information and poor consultation with local communities by agribusiness and plantation companies has often led to land conflicts and put investments at risk Sora Enso, a plantation company that has been operating in Laos since 2007, has been working on a transition process for its land acquisition and consultation procedure with the aim of achieving greater consistency with FPIC standards. With support from MRLG, Stora Enso joined with NGO Village Focus International to develop a suite of community engagement tools and techniques.
These include:
- A facilitators’ guide outlining step-by-step process for undertaking community consultations and information that needs to be discussed between investors and communities(see above to download).
- Posters on land acquisition, cooperation agreement, grievance mechanism and the village development fund to facilitate communication with communities..
- Good Faith Negotiation video (in Lao with English subtitles), which illustrates what should and should not happen when companies consult communities about developing a project that will affect village land and livelihoods.
