Communities on Madagascar’s Ihorombe plateau have accused Tozzi Green of land grabbing and have protested its operations for more than a decade. The company’s subsidiary, JTF Madagascar, received leases covering nearly 11,000 hectares in 2012 and 2018. While Tozzi Green describes the land as degraded and marginal, local communities say they previously used it for cattle grazing and subsistence farming. They also accuse the company of failing to fulfil promises of schools, infrastructure and jobs.

In 2020, Finnfund and BIO invested €7.5 million in JTF Madagascar. Local organisations later raised concerns that most communities had not consented to the land leases and called for an end to further plantation expansion. Questions were also raised over whether the project’s carbon-credit claims adequately account for the public development-finance investment.

Finnfund acknowledged local tensions but said it had seen tangible benefits and remained in contact with Tozzi Green. The Business and Human Rights Centre invited both Finnfund and Tozzi Green to respond. Finnfund provided a response, while Tozzi Green did not respond.