Angola e Japão assinaram ontem, em Luanda, um protocolo para a construção das fábricas de produção e refinação de açúcar e etanol, no município de Humbe, no Cunene. O projecto tem uma área total de 66 mil hectares de plantação de cana-de-açúcar.

China's biggest manufacturer of animal feed and Japan's biggest grain trader sign a letter of intent to expand in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America.

After focusing for decades on oil, metals and minerals, Japan's huge trading houses are turning to agricultural commodities, with Tokyo enthusiastically supporting the shift amid concerns about local and global food security .

Marubeni Corporation and Amaggi Exportação e Importação announced on May 1 that the companies have concluded a comprehensive collaboration agreement

The initial welcome given to rich countries’ investment in African farmland by agricultural and development officials has faded as the first ventures prove to be heavily weighted in favour of the investors. The FAO warned of such a trend when it said this year that the race to secure farmland overseas risked creating a “neo-colonial” system.

On the heels of tight crop production reports and the recent memory of individual nations experiencing food disruptions, there is a scramble to control or own agricultural assets and food stocks.

Japan's big trading houses, which have enjoyed bumper years from betting on iron ore and metals, are getting into the food market, aiming to tap voracious demand in China and emerging economies.

From the California wine country to the Florida citrus groves and Montana ranches, a wave of Japanese investment is sweeping through American agriculture and food processing.