While I am all for infrastructure projects, the way these large-scale agriculture projects are being conceived leaves a lot to be desired. One, they are shrouded in secrecy. Two, this being Kenya, it is not clear who will benefit most.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are worldwide leaders in buying farmland in third-party countries, followed by China and Japan, says the World Bank.
"We are trying to promote Qatari investment in [Sri Lanka's] farm sector.”
Qatar could invest in Sri Lanks’s agricultural sector, Ambassador Vijayasiri Padukkag pointed out. In the Eastern province, he said, there was plenty of vacant arable land where farms can be established.
Qatar and Malaysia have agreed to look at the possibility of investing in Islamic countries, particularly in growing food. Malaysian Foreign Minister Dr Rais Yatim told Gulf Times that certain states in his country did have land for joint cultivation but “what we are encouraging is for the two countries to go, for example, to Indonesia, or to another (Muslim) country”.
The Lands ministry has denied any knowledge of an arrangement between Kenya and Qatar to lease 40,000 hectares of its prime farm land to the Arabian country to grow food while over 10 million households face starvation.
The government has defended its decision, saying that under the agreement, Qatar will help Kenya develop an equivalent number of hectares for its own food security.
As Kenya prepares to declare a national emergency in response to food shortages, the government's agricultural policies have come under growing scrutiny. A proposed deal to lease land to the government of Qatar for agricultural use has received particular attention.
Sri Lanka has offered farm land to Qatar to grow food on the fertile island.
The reported land deal between Kenya and Qatar is not unique. The Philippines Department of Agrarian Reform said in 2007 it was looking at large tracts of land for agribusiness development under a MoU signed with China. The memo calls for the development of land to grow hybrid corn, rice and sorghum.
Walden Bello said that many of the deals were struck in dysfunctional and corruption-ridden nations, and rejected claims the land being signed away is of poor quality, and that the projects will bring jobs and improve infrastructure. “What we’re talking about is private parties using state contracts to enrich themselves,” he said. “It’s an intersection of corrupt governments and land-hungry nations.”
The area around Tana Delta which the government seeks to lease to the Qatari is of immense strategic value. It is fertile, has fresh water and, more importantly, is located in a region that has the highest potential oil and gas deposits in the country as well as other mineral deposits.
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