India

What India can learn from China is not its alarming passion for buying farmland in poor countries but its awareness of the value of agricultural land to meet the food needs of its citizens.

Gambela’s new tag as a land grabbing hub comes as BHO Agro Plc becomes the third Indian firm to begin operations in the region after two other Indian companies, Karuturi and Ruchi Group, moved into Gambela in 2008 and early 2010, respectively.

As India looks at avenues beyond its shores to deal with food security, Uganda, which has nearly half the arable land in east Africa, has laid the red carpet for inward investment from India Inc.

ASSOCHAM, India's apex industry body, has sent a proposal to the external affairs ministry offering to act as facilitator to help Indian farmers get farmland in Africa.

Sudan is seeking to attract at least $1bn of capital for its agricultural sector from Arab and Asian investment groups, which are turning to Africa in search of new food supplies as their governments try to manage the impact of commodity price inflation.

DRC, with 80 million ha of rich arable soil of which only 5% is cultivated, has invited Indian investors in the area of largescale farming to come and assess the possibilities.

Indian commercial farmers plan to invest in a new model farm in Zambia, according to the government.

Indian floriculture companies are moving into other agri-products in the world's second-largest continent.

Jagjit Singh Hara, a farmer in Jalandhar, has been getting offers from Congo, Namibia and Nigeria to take land on lease and start cultivation.

A group of farmers from Punjab are planning to take 1 lakh hectare land on lease in the African nation of Ethiopia for cultivation.

In the last few months, the process seems to be speeding up with more and more Indian farmers checking out investments in Africa.

La voix de l’Anywaa Survival Organisation s’est élevée contre la politique de cession des terres adoptée par le gouvernement éthiopien.