This study was conducted in cooperation with Illovo Sugar Ltd. in May 2015 and focused on Illovo’s operations in Malawi, on several land disputes faced by Illovo and others in Malawi, and on the company’s impacts on and relations with government, smallholders, communities, and civil society. The primary objectice of the case study was to: inform the methodology for development of the RIPL Guidebooks; increase the RIPL team’s understanding of the key issues and challenges facing different stakeholders when dealing with land-based investments; and gather information about the three RIPL stakeholder groups (smallholders/communities, governments, and investors). In addition, the study aimed to identify key land-related challenges facing Illovo’s operations in Malawi within the context of the company’s explicit commitments under their Guidelines on Land and Land Rights, described below.

Originally Published in October 2015