The Swaziland Justice Forum has accused the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation of being complicit in the illegal eviction of sugar cane farmers and their families from what should have been by now their freehold land.
The land rush in southern Africa is often a sugar rush, with the ‘white gold’ promising riches to governments, local elites and large corporates alike.
Over the course of the strike against Illovo involving some 3,000 workers, union members stood up to intimidation by military and security forces and legal action by the company intended to hamper picketing.
Swaziland's sugar workers score major success but struggle continues at Illovo, the largest sugar company in Africa.
As African countries struggle to make use of their vast land resources to improve food production because of climate change, Qatar, like other Gulf States and emerging economies such as China, is leasing and buying land in Africa.
African governments need to raise their level of accountability and ensure that they improve and protect their own food security through quid pro quo side-agreements negotiated when they lease or sell their arable land to foreign interests, says Keith Mullin of Thompson Reuters
For investors like Susan Payne, the chief executive of Emergent Asset Management, farmland in sub-Saharan Africa is a hot bet.
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