El ministro de agricultura congoleño, Rigobert Maboundou, dijo que este acuerdo forma parte de un Plan de Acción de su Gobierno para consolidar la agricultura como un pilar de su economía y que, además de este pacto, el mayor de este tipo firmado en África, tienen otros similares con China, Brasil e Israel.
There has been criticism of the deal in France, pointing out that Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Congolese president, is widely considered to be severely corrupt. But de Jager believes such attacks are motivated by a desire to protect French [farm export] interests against competition.
Peter Ndoro spoke to Dr Yao Graham, coordinator of Third World Network-Africa, a development agency, asking whether these deals really transfer technical expertise to locals.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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 ?
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Down on the farm, Saudi Arabia has a $9.8bn hole to fill
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Iran to expand overseas farming to 2mln hectares by 2029
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Avon Pension Fund to invest a further £150m in natural capital
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Carbon Assets unveils $144m Jigawa wetland project
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