The untold story of Feronia Inc's failed rice operations in the DR Congo
Murder, land grabbing, indentured labour. These are some of the allegations that have been brought forward by communities in the DR Congo against the Canadian company, Feronia Inc, a company that received over US$150 million in financing from European development banks.
Most of these troubling allegations concern the company's vast oil palm plantations in Équateur and Tshopo Provinces that it bought from Unilever in 2009. But Feronia's initial years in the DRC also involved a large-scale rice farm and mill in the Bas-Congo that the company said would eventually save the Congo from its dependence on food imports.