James Mulbah is part of the community affairs team at Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL)...whose...job is to persuade local people to let the company plant oil palm on the land where they have subsisted for generations. It's a...process, requiring...consultation and negotiation. The company has just signed its third agreement in Grand Kru County...[T]he two communities involved will receive an annual payment of $5 per hectare, jobs, scholarships, hand pumps for water and a slice of plantation for themselves. Schools and a road will be rehabilitated...Mulbah [says]...[t]he key is to "give the local people power to take charge of their own development..."...GVL hasn’t always taken such a nuanced approach...But [it changed] after...it was criticised for failing to respect...community land rights and...procedures of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)...The shift in GVL's approach is indicative of a wider transformation across the...international palm oil industry...[also refers to Ferrero, Goldren Agri-Resources, Kellogg's, Mars, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, and Unilever]