Denmark

Global fund managers and some of the world's largest pension funds have bought more than $1.5 billion of agricultural land in Australia over the past three years.

Late on Wednesday night an Australian trust backed by Swiss, Danish and US fund managers agreed to pay more than $200 million for 12,000 hectares of almond groves in northern Victoria.

Africa must be developed in a rush in order to avoid a global food crisis with huge changes, including a confrontation with chiefs, the role of women and the views on collective property, says Danish Minister for Development Cooperation.

Farmland prices are firming across much of Central and Eastern Europe, as interest from institutional investors -- mainly pension funds -- begins to translate into transactions on the ground.

The eastern Europe farm operator ditched its last hopes of avoiding a return into the red after disease at its dairy herd added to the pressure on profits from poor weather for its arable operations.

The African Agricultural Capital Fund, which is backed by USAID, Bill Gates and JP Morgan, has invested $1.2 million in NUAC, a company owned by several Danish partners that operates Uganda's largest farm.

Som nogle af de første pensionskasser kaster PKA og PensionDanmark sig ind i kapløbet om de nye værdier i omstilling af det afrikanske landbrug. En svær øvelse, siger fagfolk

PKA has defended its investments in African agricultural land, denying they are ethically dubious or constitute "land grabbing".

The extent of the surge in UK farmland prices has driven foreign buyers and pension funds to the sidelines, leaving farmers to pay prices more than double those three years ago, property consultancy Savills said.

PensionDanmark's DKK 320 million (EUR 43 million) farmland investment will focus on agricultural production in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Mozambique

Special issue of Friends of the Earth Denmark's magazine on land grabbing

Socialrådgivere og jordemødre skal tjene til pensionen ved køb af landbrugsjord i Afrika. Det kan fordrive fattige bønder, advarer eksperter.