Quels modèles de gestion des plantations agro-industrielles tropicales ? Réflexions à partir d’une étude de cas au Gabon

Abstract

-Le fort développement de l'agro-industrialisation dans les zones tropicales fait craindre de graves conséquences sociales et environnementales. Des mécanismes de régulation permettent-ils d'atténuer ces conséquences ? À partir de l'étude d'une plantation industrielle d'hévéas au Gabon, les principaux enjeux sociaux et environnementaux sont d'abord détaillés. Nous présenterons les lacunes des modes de gestion mis en oeuvre : responsabilité sociale et environnementale, politiques d'enclave et modèle paternaliste. Nous démontrerons que l'entreprise agro-industrielle ne peut répondre, seule, à l'importance des enjeux de développement que sa création suscite. Nous introduirons la notion de développement territorial, en précisant pour quelles raisons celle-ci permet d'appréhender et de gérer les transformations sociales et environnementales générées par les grands projets de plantation tropicale, malgré les difficultés de mise en oeuvre que nous pressentons.

Forests to the Foreigners: Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Gabon

“…Local and external labour was not always voluntary or renumerated, workers were often treated violently, and the surge of populations in rural regions led to malnutrition and starvation [37]. These demographic patterns related to the labour requirements of foreign firms continue to this day [5,38]. A trend noted by the World Bank [39] and several experts we spoke with was the contemporary prevalence of foreign labour working in Gabon, with foreigners occupying 1/5th of all formal private-sector jobs.…”

“…The movement of people to concessions is historically significant and spans temporal, geographic, and industry boundaries. For example, in the 1960s, the arrival of Shell Gabon saw the town of Gamba develop from a couple of families to a town of over 9000 [81]; COMILOG's presence in Moanda is credited to the growth of the city from 500 to 60,000 people in the past five decades [82]; and when Olam Rubber announced the creation of a rubber plantation in Woleu-Ntem, it was estimated that upwards of 45,000 people (including 7000 employees) would migrate to the region [38].…”

“…In accordance with the Sustainable Development Law, the Grande Mayumba has allocated 14,000 hectares of land to an "urban and infrastructure development" concession. This project has yet to break ground, but there is hope that decision to allocate land specifically for social infrastructure development can address and learn from the social inequalities and environmental degradation that have been experienced in other investor communities, as witnessed by Feintrenie [5], Tonneau and Gueneau [38], and Messi Me Nang [84].…”

“…), as well as the inward flow of people to the forest, enabling this migration of people. Indirect impacts of increased road access include illegal logging and poaching as remote areas become easier to access [38]. With regard to the risks infrastructure plays in furthering deforestation, the FAO includes road infrastructure as one of the most impactful current and future threats of Central African forests [85].…”