"The motivation for South African farmers is simple," said Theo de Jager, Agri SA's deputy president, who helped negotiate the deal. "One in four farms must be redistributed in the next four or five years. So for new entrants into the sector and for those farmers who want to expand there is nowhere to go."
- National Post
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21 October 2009
Can these deals benefit Africa? Have you been affected by one of these land deals? Should countries be leasing fertile land to foreign investors? Join a live BBC debate on 21 October 2009.
South Africa has signed a deal with the Republic of Congo that will give SA farmers access to up to 10 million ha of farmland, the country's biggest farmers' union said on Tuesday.
“The deal has been finalized and they have made land available free of charge,” Agri SA said. There’s no restriction on exports. The only condition is that the land is used.
- Bloomberg
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20 October 2009
Congolese officials say the land is made up of abandoned farms that the state used to operate.
La República del Congo ha ofrecido a los inversores internacionales 10 millones de hectáreas de sus terrenos de cultivo, un envite al que ha respondido la mayor asociación de agricultores de Suráfrica y que con toda probabilidad acelerará la carrera por la apropiación de tierras en África.
AgriSA expects to sign a 35,000 hectare land deal with the Libyan government in October.
- Reuters
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30 September 2009
A multi-million hectare land deal allowing South Africans to farm in the Republic of Congo is expected to be finalised by mid October, South Africa's main farmers union said on Wednesday.
- Reuters
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30 September 2009
L'apparition du « Land Grabbing » que les chinois accélèrent à travers le continent s'inscrit-il dans la perpétuation de ces comportements des dirigeants africains comme sous la coupole occidentale, sachant qu'ils ne sont tenus par aucun passif colonial avec le géant de l'empire du milieu ?
- Camer.be
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24 September 2009
The Republic of Congo expects to finalize a multimillion hectare land deal with South African farmers by the end of this year, Congo President Denis Sassou-Nguesso said on Tuesday.
- Reuters
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23 September 2009
Congo Republic wants to amend the terms of a multi-million hectare land deal with South African farmers, a top aide told Reuters on Wednesday, saying the current accord would deprive its own farmers of land.
When people are using lands under customary tenure arrangements, there is an inequality in bargaining power where no formal titles to the land exist if a foreign investor is interested in purchasing the land.
- San Francisco Examiner
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27 June 2009