Herakles Farms

American agribusiness company

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Herakles Farms, formerly known as SG Sustainable Oils,[1] is an American company active in oil palm plantations and timber business. Its headquarters are in New York City. According to its web site, it claims to be committed to sustainability.

## Activity in Cameroon

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The presence of Herakles Farms in Cameroon started in 2009.[2] Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC) is a Cameroonian subsidiary of Herakles Farms, has received a concession of 73,000 hectares of rainforest to be replaced by oil palm plantations in 2009.[3][4] This was suspended by the government of Cameroon in May 2013. Herakles Farms claims to invest 300 billion francs CFA and improve the life of indigenous persons of the area.[5] Far more locals are opposed to than in favor of this project.[6] SCSOC has frequently used intimidation and corruption, especially against leaders and key decision makers in the community[3] as well as civil society activists such as Nasako Besingi who was arrested[7] and later sued for defamation of the company.[8] A court in Limbe, Cameroon has condemned Herakles to a fine of 4.6 million for racist discrimination in January 2014.[9] The rainforest mentioned is habitat of the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee and the drill.[10]

## References

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1. ^ "Herakles Farms, LLC: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
2. ^ "Camnews24.net". Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
3. ^ a b Van Kote, Gilles (23 May 2013). "Au Cameroun, un projet géant d'huile de palme fait scandale" [In Cameroon, a giant palm oil project causes scandal]. Le Monde (in French).
4. ^ Grandadam, Sabine (30 October 2013). "Palmiers à huile au Cameroun : Herakles Farms, une saga à rebondissements". Afrik.com.
5. ^ "Herakles farm will invest CFAF 300 billion in Cameroon". American Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon.
6. ^ Achobang, Fon Christoper (2013-05-28). "Lessons from Herakles Farms Debacle in Cameroon". Modern Ghana.
7. ^ "Arbitrary arrest of and judicial harassment against Mr. Nasako Besingi and four SEFE collaborators". OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture). 29 November 2012. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
8. ^ Akana, David (2015-11-04). "Environmentalist sentenced in Cameroon". Earth Journalism Network. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
9. ^ "Cameroun: Herakles Farms condamnée à 4,6 millions $ pour discrimination raciale" [Cameroon: Herakles Farms sentenced to $4.6 million for racial discrimination]. Agence Ecofin. 2014-01-05.
10. ^ "Camnews24.net - camnews24 Resources and Information". Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-10.

## External links

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* Website of Herakles Farms