Somalia

African Food Security, a New York-based agribusiness firm, has launched a large-scale farming initiative in Somaliland and says it has commenced feasibility studies and soil assessments.

According to the United Nations, over 36 million people are struggling to meet their basic food needs, a number projected to rise to over 52 million during the June–August 2025 lean season, including almost three million in emergency conditions (IPC4) and 2,600 people in Mali at risk of facing catastrophic hunger (IPC5).

Beneath the promises of food security and economic growth lie allegations of land grabbing, human rights violations, environmental damage, and financial mismanagement—particularly linked to the company’s operations in West and Central Africa.

A subsidiary of UAE financial firm Talc Investments has acquired a large plot of land in the heart of previously well-known banana territories in the province of Somaliland.

Somalia’s farmland similar to its neighbouring countries is in danger of falling into the hands of transnational companies often in partnership with governments sometimes supported by the local elites.

Interview with Olaseinde Makanjuola Arigbede of the United Small and Medium scale Farmers' Associations of Nigeria (USMEFAN)

Globalisation has taken yet another twist with some Middle Eastern countries deciding to grow their crops in other countries.

Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, one of the Middle East’s largest private equity companies, has been quietly buying farmland in Pakistan as part of plans by the United Arab Emirates to increase food security and to damp inflation.