The Mattru plantation has had a long history of ownership:
- In 1967, the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (SLPMB) – a Sierra Leonian government entity established 3,600 acres plantation of oil palm in the Jong and Sogbeni Chiefdoms.
- In 1978, this planation, Mattru Jong, was handed over to the African Development Bank. The landowners had a 27-year land lease agreement with the African Development Bank, and that, upon the expiration of this lease in 2005, the government handed management of the plantation back to the landowners.
- Later in 2010, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security and the then Minister of Finance and Economic Development signed a five-year loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank to transform the Mattru Jong plantation. Since the five-year period ended, these plantations have been left unattended with the community people lacking the capacity to manage it effectively.
Planting Naturals leases these oil palm plantations for maintenance and harvest. The FFB will currently be transported to Goldtree mill in Daru. The mission for this estate includes development of an environmentally and socially sustainable oil palm project, provision of commercial grade palm oil for local and external markets, improvement of social programs / amenities in the rural areas and encouragement of out growers with modern agronomic practices and improved planting materials.
