Annoncée comme une entreprise basée sur le respect de l’environnement et des intérêts des populations locales, le projet conduit par Herakles s’est trouvé, comme l’ont montré les messages internes publiés il y a quelques mois par le journal français Le Monde, une entreprise d’exploitation recouverte du vernis humanitaire. L’implosion présumée de la société Heralkles nous invite à méditer sur les usages de l’humanitaire, mais surtout du coût que cela implique pour les peuples les moins fortunés de la planète. Les ONGs, séculaires et religieuses, ont-elles pour vocation d’apporter leur caution aux entreprises économiques ? Ne courrent-elles pas le risque de perdre leur crédibilité morale comme dans le cas de la société Heralkles ? L’évanouissement de l’ONG qui avait certifié le projet d’Heralkles comme entreprise humanitaire constitue une mise en garde sur l’instrumentalisation de l’humanitaire.
The agricultural venture initiated by American-based Herakles Farm was trumpeted as a socially conscious venture designed to respect the interests of the local population South West Cameroon. The initiators of the project also claimed to observe strict standards of environmental sustainability. These proclamations turned out to be a hijacking of the noble rhetoric of humanitarianism. Internal communications leaked and reported by media outlets, including the French daily Le Monde, showed the extent of the cynicism of the promoters. The certification of the project by a since-vanished NGO raises questions about the exploitation of the humanitarian label. Should NGOs, secular and religious, be in the business of endorsing for-profit enterprises? What are the costs of such association, beyond the risk of these NGOs losing their credibility, which is the bedrock of their moral authority? The disappearance of the (fake?) NGO that gave its blessings to Herakles invites academics and practitioners who are invested in the field of humanitarian interventions in Africa to ask and address such concerns.
Press Release: Will Cameroon Bear the Brunt of Herakles’ Implosion?
The embattled Herakles Farms palm oil plantation project in Cameroon appears to have now gone off the rails. Recent news of CEO Bruce Wrobel’s early retirement from parent company Sithe Global, plus charges of corruption filed in the US by Cameroonian NGOs and the virtual disappearance of All for Africa, an NGO (chaired by Bruce Wrobel) that granted a faux “green” legitimacy, combine to indicate that failure is at hand for the maligned project.
The word on the ground points to a dire financial situation and an erosion of faith in Herakles Farms by investors and company’s own workers. Herakles Farms had purported to herald a new era of “sustainable agriculture” by replacing old-growth rainforest with palm oil plantations. But the company has faced a series of setbacks since the Oakland Institute and Greenpeace International released a report in May 2013 documenting false promises, risks, and legal flaws in Herakles’ planned operations.
Full press release available at http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/press-release-will-cameroon-bear-brunt-herakles-implosion.
Today Oxfam launched a campaign regarding the world’s biggest brands and land rights violations. See this Q&A on why Oxfam is calling for zero tolerance of global land grabs by food and beverage companies: http://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/2013/10/02/what-do-the-worlds-biggest-brands-have-to-do-with-land-rights-violations/