Author: CICODEV Africa
In Senegal’s Thiès region, the expansion of phosphate and mineral mining by SEPHOS (a subsidiary of FERTINAGRO NUTRIENTES) and GCO (a joint venture between France’s Eramet and Mineral Deposits Limited) has devastated the agricultural communities of Koudiadiène, Pambal, Diogo, and neighboring villages. Since 2009, land acquisitions have proceeded with minimal transparency and inadequate compensation, forcing farming families off ancestral lands.
The resulting displacement, water contamination, loss of livelihoods, and social fragmentation paint a stark picture of development prioritized over human rights. The case calls for stronger legal protections for customary land rights, greater corporate accountability, and more inclusive models of extractive development.
