Small-scale farmers with limited knowledge of their rights stand to lose most as countries such as China and Saudi Arabia expand their quest for African farmland, analysts have warned.
The United Arab Emirates is beefing up its agricultural investments in Sudan in wake of a food crisis that led to world wide protests primarily in developing nations.
Pakistan has reportedly offered Saudi Arabia a large amount of acres of agricultural land in return for oil. Egypt is also said to have offered both Saudi Arabia and the UAE the opportunity to purchase farmland. Even Bahrain, the smallest economy in the GCC, has started exploring buying farmland in southeast Asian nations, notably Thailand and the Philippines.
The UAE is exploring opportunities in the Philippines to ensure the availability of certain food stocks in the country, an official said.
Sources say that UAE businessmen are considering buying large land holdings and importing food items from Pakistan at 20-25 percent less cost.
One issue reportedly delaying UAE investment in Pakistan is the Gulf state appearing to want “blanket exemption” from Islamabad’s agricultural export policies.
The United Arab Emirates is seeking to invest in agricultural projects in Kazakhstan as part of its efforts to secure food supplies.
President of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed, has said that in order to secure food supply for the country, the government wants to invest in farmland in Kazakhstan
The UAE is actively looking at acquiring farmland in Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and South America in an effort to ensure the availability of food stocks, according to the UAE Minister of Economy.
Gobal fund manager Schroders is launching an Agricultural Land Fund, only months after closing its USD 6 billion Alternative Solutions Agriculture Fund due to excessive investor demand.
The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is expanding its Abu Dhabi office tenfold to broker deals with farmers in such areas as the Horn of Africa.
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