Cambodia will be the fourth country after Sudan, Egypt and Pakistan to receive UAE investments intended to achieve a food security plan drawn up by the government. Large-scale planting on Cambodian land acquired through purchase or 99-year lease may be launched there next year.
Farmland deals in Africa inked by private Egyptian firms, commonly called "land grabs," could help the import-dependent nation get access to grain when markets spike, Egypt's agriculture minister Amin Abaza said. "This is going to be a private initiative."
South African farmers have been offered land for agriculture in Angola and Uganda and the government is also in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Southern Sudan.
The Sudanese government will take back a plot of land allocated for a Jordanian agricultural megaproject if the government does not implement the project within two weeks
Citadel, which also announced on Tuesday that it was investing in 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares) of farmland in Sudan, is also looking to potential investments elsewhere in Africa: Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia.
Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital is investing in 210,000 ha of farmland in Sudan, where it got the right to the land for 99 years.
As part of its policy of food security, Abu Dhabi acquired 30,000 hectares of land last June through its development fund to grow alfalfa, which is used to feed cattle, and other crops such as corn.
"We have acquired a very large piece of agricultural land in the Nile Delta – a 15,000 sq km tract of land where we will be producing for international markets, including the Arab World."
An internal document recently posted on IRRI's website reveals that the Institute has been advising Saudi Arabia in the context of its strategy to acquire farm land overseas for its own food production.
Agricultural experts have called for a halt to moves by Gulf investors to snap up foreign land, amid claims that poor nations are losing much-needed farmland in a calculated land grab.
Estados e inversores privados compiten por comprar superficies en África, Asia y Latinoamérica
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