As a family man, Mr. Janvier Mopepe dreams of a better future and wants to rebuild his life after leaving behind his role in the theft of palm fruits from the PHC plantations. In this article, he shares his story with us.
Born in the territory of Mobango, near Basoko in the Tshopo province, Mr. Mopepe, father of 7 children, did not pursue his studies for very long. "I stopped my studies in the 4th year of the humanities (equivalent to four years of study at the secondary level) in order to work and earn a living. This is what led me to settle down in Lokutu," says Mr. Mopepe.
In Lokutu, he got a job in a local company where he worked for two years. After his former employer ended their operations and terminated his contract, Mr. Mopepe found himself unemployed and decided to set up a small artisanal palm oil production unit. “Unemployed, I could no longer feed my family, so I bought a mixer and set up a small palm oil production plant.”
To run his production unit without having an oil palm plantation, Mr. Mopepe organized fruit thefts from the PHC plantations in Lokutu in partnership with three associates.
“I could, during a theft operation, enter the plantations and take up to 300 fruit bunches."
Following increased patrols by PHC industrial guards in the plantations, Mr. Mopepe found that access to the PHC plantations was becoming increasingly difficult. He then made a courageous decision: to stop pursuing fruit theft in the plantations. Following this decision, on August 17, 2022 he set out to find PHC's industrial guards.
“I thought it was time to stop stealing and get a decent job. I then asked the company to come and recover the stolen fruit as well as the mixer”.
PHC's industrial guards went to Mr. Mopepe's camp and were able to recover the artisanal mixer and more than 700 kg of loose fruit. His production unit now dismantled, Mr. Mopepe has submitted a job application to PHC which is under consideration.
"I feel proud, because a job at PHC would allow me to feed my family with dignity instead of continuing to live off the theft of other people's property."
Mr. Mopepe is just one example of the recent transformation in communities' perception of theft from the plantations. Indeed, local communities are beginning to engage with PHC to end thefts from the company's sites. In recent weeks, community leaders have taken steps to identify members of their own communities known to stage large-scale and often violent thefts from PHC and report them to the police. A community leader even lodged a formal complaint with the local authorities regarding the problem of palm fruit theft from PHC's plantations in the vicinity of his community.
PHC commends the leadership of these traditional chiefs in taking steps to protect the company's assets. In return, PHC is more committed than ever to supporting those seeking ways to care for their families, either by working for the company or through other initiatives. In fact, the company has established a Community Development Program (CDP) which aims to promote agricultural activity by supporting small producers through the creation of Agricultural Producers' Organizations (APOs) which now have about 780 members. The company is also committed to improving access to quality health care through its hospitals which provide free health care to all company employees and their families, approximately 25 people. PHC's health facilities also offer care to members of local communities who do not work for PHC.
The company has also facilitated access to drinking water by constructing more than 70 boreholes that directly benefit local communities. PHC invests in human capital and supports the education sector by building schools. Since 2018, the company has built more than 20 schools of 6 classes equipped with benches and sanitary facilities, thus enabling several thousand children to benefit from better educational conditions.
All of these activities are integral to realizing PHC's vision of creating shared prosperity through agribusiness not just for PHC employees, but for all people living near the company's areas of operation.