170830-Liberia-Grile-0388
BLAYAH TOWN, LIBERIA: Aug. 30, 2017 - A woman eats fruit from a palm tree while in front of Garmondah Banwon's kitchen. Banwon is an elder in the Jogbahn Clan, beat cassava in front of the family's kitchen in Blayah Town. The Jogbahn Clan fought against the British-owned company Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) when they tried to take over their land in 2013. The people in the community depend on the land for their livelihoods. The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) started to help the community by submitting a formal complaint to the to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). SDI taught the clan about land rights and resisting with non-violence. THE RSPO determined that the land EPO was using belonged to the clan. SGI trained the community how to map their land and boundaries were created that EPO accepted not to cross.