Korea

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.

It is becoming harder for Koreans to buy grain, regardless of price. That is why the government is hurrying to cultivate overseas crops and to secure stable import sources.

L'Etat cède 880000 hectares de terre arable pour 670 millions d'euros. Publiée mi-août par le Financial Times, l'annonce du gouvernement soudanais n'est plus vraiment une nouveauté. Comme d'autres avant lui, le pays est prêt à céder un territoire presque aussi grand que l'Ile-de-France à des investisseurs étrangers trop contents de s'exécuter.

South Korean-based PT Agro Enerpia Indonesia will invest US$2 billion in maize plantations in the Buol district of Central Sulawesi, a regional government spokesman said.

A big chunk of land in Sudan has been set aside for Korea to invest in crop production, the Sudanese ambassador said.

As food crisis worsens, some nations are desperate for arable land

"If Korea wants to invest in agriculture, Australia is open for business," Australian Ambassador to Seoul Peter Rowe said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

President Lee Myung-bak said that one possible way to secure grain supplies from overseas would be to sign a long-term land lease. The President specifically pointed to the Russian Far East.

Japan has steadily prepared for food security by buying 12 million hectares of croplands around the world, from Southeast Asia and China to South America. By comparison, the amount of Korea’s overseas croplands is negligible.