Myanmar diplomatically bypassed a Bangladesh proposal last year for taking agricultural land on lease for cultivation in that country.

In Myanmar, the issue of land-grabbing has been raised by land rights groups urging changes to two land laws currently before parliament: the Farmland Bill and Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Bill.

The government of Bangladesh has also been looking for farmland abroad -- in Burma, Kenya, Uganda

Bangladeshi authorities have started exploring new options to ensure the country's food security such as taking lease of vast areas of fallow agricultural land in the neighbouring Myanmar and in some African states.

That Korea is no longer "importing" this food that is being grown overseas implies that this land is effectively Korean. This amounts to agricultural imperialism.

China has now taken on a leading role in promoting modernization through zones of exception, not only in China but also outside it.

The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, a body of over 800 edible oil producing companies, is looking to buy tracts of agricultural land in South America, Africa and Myanmar.

The Korea Rural Community Corporation, under the Agriculture Ministry, said it is also in talks with other resource-rich countries about deals in exchange for support for the construction of agricultural infrastructure or farms. Among the negotiating partners mentioned were Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Senegal and Mongolia.

Sam Pov, a rice farmer in Cambodia’s western Battambang Province, is very worried that his land will be taken over by a foreign investor.

Not a day goes by without new acreage being signed over. "For Sale" ads for agricultural property are now featured in the international financial press. And there's no dearth of clients.

"Je crois que les tensions seront inévitables où que ce soit, faisant des enclaves agricoles étrangères de véritables forteresses assiégées."

Governments in developing countries should exercise caution when granting land concessions to foreign governments and corporations. Despite the short-term investments, most – if not all – of the production will be exported, making the long-term food security situation even worse in these host countries.