China

Not a day goes by without new acreage being signed over. "For Sale" ads for agricultural property are now featured in the international financial press. And there's no dearth of clients.

"Je crois que les tensions seront inévitables où que ce soit, faisant des enclaves agricoles étrangères de véritables forteresses assiégées."

Increasingly, the land deals are coming under the scrutiny of the UN and watchdog groups such as Grain, the International Land Coalition and the IFPRI. That's because it is not obvious that they are win-win situations.

The deal would be the biggest lease of land in the country, which faces food shortages following severe flooding and drought during last year’s growing season.

Are there any answers to this looming crisis? Some countries are buying land. There is vague talk about governments introducing “water management reforms”. Even more opaquely, there are calls for “multi-country discussions on trans-boundary issues, international trade and investment flows”.

A conference for fund managers tied to agriculture held annually in Sydney by Austock, an Australian broker, attracted a few dozen contrarian souls three years ago. This year’s event, which began on March 16th, had to be restricted to several hundred ticket-holders, with many others turned away.

The truth is that if exploitation of a developing country’s natural resources by the West is colonialism, so it is when rich countries of the South do the same.

Dossier spécial de « Campagnes solidaires », le bulletin mensuel de la Confédération Paysanne

China and the Middle East countries will invest in horticulture sector of Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion during the current year 2009, an official of Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) said Wednesday.

China is not pushing to expand overseas farming and Chinese companies are less active in their investment abroad because of concerns of potential political risks, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Governments in developing countries should exercise caution when granting land concessions to foreign governments and corporations. Despite the short-term investments, most – if not all – of the production will be exported, making the long-term food security situation even worse in these host countries.

Organizaciones como Vía Campesina -una “internacional” de campesinos que se organizó para resistir la globalización neoliberal y proponer caminos alternativos de soberanía alimentaria- u ONGs nacionales de Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay y otros países están inquietas hace rato por la extranjerización de las tierras, y han forzado en algunos casos la sanción de leyes protectivas.