By Matthew Ponsford

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The lack of tenure over ancestral lands lies at the root of violent clashes on land leased to foreign palm oil producers in Liberia, a leading researcher said.  The eruption of rioting on April 4 on a plantation in northeastern Liberia is the most recent case in more than a decade of conflict over land, with Liberians protesting against big palm oil developments operated by foreign producers.

Ali Kaba, senior researcher at the Sustainable Development Institute in Monrovia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that residents of areas leased as concessions to foreign investors are often evicted without rights to compensation.  http://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/26099-land-rights-at-root-of-palm-oil-conflict-in-liberia-campaigners-say