UK

An EU trade initiative intended to reduce poverty in the world’s poorest countries has driven thousands of Cambodian farming families into destitution and led to serious human rights violations, says new report

DfID accused of assisting land grab in Sierra Leone by providing aid for European energy business

On the margins of the annual World Bank land and poverty conference in April a donor roundtable agreed to establish a first global donor working group on land, which was launched recently. Video interview with the first chair of the group, from DFID.

The threat posed to agriculture by environmental hazards is now so great that it could wipe as much as £5 trillion off the value of the world’s farm land, equipment and stock in any one year, a heavyweight study is warning.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has taken Sierra Leone farmland investor Capital Alternatives to the High Court for “promoting and/or operating collective investment schemes (CISs) in the UK illegally and without our authorisation”.

Yesterday the board of Bonsucro, a responsible sugar initiative, announced its decision to suspend Tate & Lyle Sugars (TLS) over complaints that the UK sugar giant buys from a plantation in Koh Kong, Cambodia, on land stolen from local villagers.

Selon l’association roumaine EcoRuralis, plus de 700.000 hectares, soit 6,5 % des terres arables du pays, seraient déjà aux mains de compagnies du Qatar, d’Arabie Saoudite ou de Grande-Bretagne.

Farmers remain the main buyer group as they seek to expand their existing acreage, followed by UK investors and private purchasers, including overseas buyers taking advantage of the current weakness of sterling

Report urges full implementation of UN voluntary guidelines and urges DfID to support agricultural extension services

Bah and his kinsmen were not consulted in the leasing of their land to EPO. He says the company used bulldozers to clear the land, including ancestral land and sacred sites, without any remorse or respect for their local culture.

DFID documents reveal that, despite denials of funding forced relocations, British cash pays salaries of officials implementing the Ethiopian government's 'villagisation' programme.

La France et le Royaume-Uni soutiennent les travaux du CSA sur les investissements responsables dans l’agriculture (« RAI »), notamment afin de combattre l’accaparement des terres dans les pays en développement