CAMEROON : Socapalm returns more than 2,500 hectares of farmland to the State to resolve a land dispute

(LVDE) — In the Littoral Region, the Cameroon Palm Plantations Company (Socapalm) has officially returned 2,566 hectares of land to the State of Cameroon following a tripartite meeting held on January 21. This handover forms part of a long-standing land clarification process involving the agro-industrial company, public authorities and local communities, and aims to ease a conflict that has persisted for several years.

The Cameroonian subsidiary of the agro-industrial group Socfin has proceeded with the restitution of more than 2,500 hectares of unused land to the State, according to the report released after land demarcation work carried out at the Dibombari site in the Littoral Region. During the tripartite consultation meeting held on January 21, 2026, cadastral services presented the results of the boundary marking and densification operations initiated by Socapalm in collaboration with the relevant authorities and representatives of surrounding communities. Following this process, Socapalm’s concession in Dibombari was reduced from 11,210 hectares to 8,643 hectares, reflecting the voluntary return of 2,566 hectares to the State.

For the company, this decision reflects a stated commitment to work transparently with public authorities and local populations in order to bring a lasting resolution to a land issue that has often generated misunderstandings and local tensions. Administrative officials, local elected representatives and traditional leaders present at the meeting welcomed the initiative, while emphasizing the need for the effective transfer of the land to the concerned communities.

This move comes within a broader context of recurring land conflicts between Socapalm and local populations in several localities of the Littoral Region, including Apouh à Ngog, Mbimbè, Koukouhè and other villages where similar disputes have arisen over the company’s land use. Local communities have repeatedly accused the company of prolonged occupation of ancestral lands for industrial plantations without adequate compensation and without the restitution of buffer zones provided for under the emphyteutic leases signed with the State.

In recent years, these disputes have led to protests, sometimes met with intervention by security forces, and to reports by human rights organizations highlighting alleged abuses and violations of the rights of local populations. Some investigations have also pointed to irregularities in the allocation of land concessions and discrepancies between the areas officially granted and those actually exploited by the company, raising concerns about transparency and legality.

The land restitutions now underway are part of a process initiated several years ago, including technical assessments conducted with the support of the Ministry of State Property, Surveys and Land Tenure (MINDCAF), aimed at clarifying concession boundaries and strengthening land security. To date, Socapalm has already returned several thousand hectares to the State as part of these operations, which should eventually enable the effective redistribution of plots to local communities.

As land issues continue to shape relations between large agro-industrial plantations and surrounding communities, this step taken in Dibombari is widely seen as an important milestone towards resolving disputes that have long fueled social and economic tensions.

Anatole Bidias