Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' land rights

Indigenous Peoples and local communities are critical stewards and protectors of land and forests, so securing their land and resource rights can foster conservation and more appropriate management of those resources.

Respecting the rights of indigenous people 

Indigenous People, including Afro-descendant peoples, number around 2.5 billion globally. They customarily claim almost half of the world’s lands and forests but have legal rights to less than 20 percent of them. A lack of clarity over land rights can lead to legal disputes, violent clashes and land grabs – all of which are a barrier to rural development. 

By helping Indigenous People secure legal rights to land which they may have lived on for centuries, we are empowering Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IP&LCs) to become stewards of their land.

Research shows that when IP&LCs have secure land rights, they:

• Use their land more sustainably
• Are more likely to invest in their land and access agricultural and financial resources
• Are less likely to experience conflicts and are better able to recover when they do occur
• Enjoy better food security, nutrition, health and education outcomes

Our key achievements

• In 2023, we rolled out our e-learning on IP&LCs’
• For real estate acquisitions, we have created and shared with our markets due diligence tools
• In Colombia and Brazil, we carried out local stakeholder and rightsholder consultations. This led to the development of an action plan currently being implemented.
• We have developed and piloted minimum social safeguards for landscape and jurisdictional initiatives
• We have developed internal guidance to address grievances alleging attacks against Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in our supply chains

Promoting the rights of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) collectively

We actively participated in the development of the Consumer Goods Forum's Best Practice Note for Business on Human Rights. This provides practical insights on how the private sector can integrate respect for Defenders into their human rights policies, human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD), and grievance mechanisms. Our Human Rights Policy (pdf, 1.5Mb) acknowledges the important role of HRDs in the civic space and states that we have no tolerance for violence, threats or attacks, or intimidation on them or their families. We are exploring how to integrate this Best Practice Note into our own supply chain grievance management process (pdf, 100Kb) and how to address grievances related to HRDs in a collective way.

Meaningful rightsholders and stakeholder engagement

We commissioned a rightsholder and stakeholder consultation in Brazil and Colombia to better understand the land rights risks and impacts on IP&LCs, and identify opportunities to support respect for IP&LCs’ land rights in key Nestlé’s sourcing regions. Different types of stakeholders were consulted, including indigenous, quilombola and afro-descendant communities, local and national government, suppliers and industry associations, smallholder producers’ association, and non-governmental and civil society organizations. Based on the land rights risks highlighted through the consultation, we are finalizing an action plan, including action with our suppliers and external stakeholders. More information about the findings of the palm oil-focused consultation in Colombia.