Saudi Arabia

Le parti vert malgache n'est pas contre l'accès à la terre des étrangers, mais il faut que l'Etat s'occupe des Malgaches d'abord.

The proposals for farmland acquisitions by countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar are at a pre-feasibility stage and no commitment has been made so far, the government of Pakistan told the High Court of Lahore

“Our people have already surveyed several areas to choose the right place for planting basmati rice. The investment will be huge,” says Ambassador Khayyat.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif postponed until October 6 the hearing of a petition challenging the proposed sale or lease of millions of acres of agriculture land to foreign countries.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the government to seriously reconsider its plan to sell land to Saudi Arabia and other foreign investors, taking into account the welfare of hundreds of thousands of peasants whose livelihood will be directly affected.

The 'Food Pirates' are fast expanding their network, their reach and their control over land. And it is happening fast in our own neighbourhood, writes Devinder Sharma.

“We expect this impending land-lease deal with Saudi Arabia, courtesy of global land-grabbing’s No. 1 puppet in Asia, to displace thousands of farmers and agricultural workers. Ms Arroyo is selling out the country’s national patrimony under the guise of multi-million dollar investment packages,” Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael Mariano said.

Ten Saudi Arabian agricultural companies wants to make the Philippines their food production hub and distribution center in the Far East.

Fears have been raised of a possible increase in food insecurity in Pakistan if a deal to lease out 202,342.8 hectares of farmland to Saudi Arabia goes ahead.

"The real worry is that IRRI may help Saudi Arabia produce aromatic rice varieties in Pakistan where these countries have bought large tracts of lands," food policy commentator Devinder Sharma said. "India and Pakistan are already bitter rivals in the Basmati export segment."

During Pervez Musharraf’s time, Beijing had proposed that it be leased 2,000 acres of land for a period of 10 to 15 years with the agreement that China would make technological and financial investments in the land, invest in newer forms of seeds and other products and leave the new infrastructure to the state or the owners after the termination of the contract.

It is unfortunate that even as deals that involve land which should belong to the people of Pakistan are struck, there has been so little public debate about the plan. We need to be informed of what is planned. Protests need too to be mobilized. In the prevailing political environment of Pakistan, the people who stand to lose the most have almost no spokesmen.