Japan

“We are going to prepare a PEC [Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment] to make it clear to investors that they can invest in any sector except land”, Guilherme Cassel, Brazil's Minister for Agrarian Development says

"Vamos fazer uma PEC [Proposta de Emenda Constitucional] para deixar claro aos investidores que podem investir em qualquer campo, mas não em terras", informou o ministro do Desenvolvimento Agrário, Guilherme Cassel.

Participants agreed on the importance of an open and inclusive dialogue to continue encouraging responsible agricultural investment by various parties.

Recently, Kanayo Nwanze, head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, told a news conference: "It is the wrong language to call them land grabs. They are investments in farmland--like investments in oil exploration."

I personally know of the efforts of a leading Japanese company that is cooperating with African farmers to create sustainable systems that blend technology with traditional African lore

Event aims to support “win-win” arrangements whereby investors and host countries can both benefit from international investment, supporting national or regional food security aims.

Rebuttal from Ethiopia's ambassador to Japan against the article "Japan, please don't go grabbing Ethiopians' land," insisting that the government is only leasing out "unutilized land and some other land holdings by government-owned enterprises".

Japan should shun this new kind of colonization like a plague, no matter what well-paid city-based officials may say.

"At an UNCTAD meeting on investment in agriculture on February 3, China became the central focus of criticism amid a chorus of concerns about the economic, food security, environmental and social impact of large foreign purchases of agricultural lands in developing countries," reports the US mission to Geneva

The government is aiming to attract less than Rp 100 trillion (US$10.6 billion) in investment through the development of three special economic zones (SEZs) producing agricultural products this year.

US government cable discusses 24 January 2010 meeting organised by Swiss Development Corporation, UN Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Investment on "Land, Investment, and Development," attended by many of the key players working on responsible international agro-industrial and land investment principles

Programme aired on NHK World presenting a documentary by Kohei Tsuji filmed in Ethiopia and Tanzania - in Japanese only - 35 minutes