Southeast Asian palm oil firms like Malaysia's Sime Darby and Singapore's Golden Agri Resources are backpacking to Africa, in what could be the planet’s next trend-setter in inter-continental resource trade.

Black River's investment pipeline includes a Chinese pork producer and distributor, a duck farming firm in northern China, a fish producer in Costa Rica and a frozen fish processor in Singapore.

Wilmar's take-over of Sucrogen gave the company a significant amount of cane land that it increased with the purchase of additional farms to guarantee cane supply, outbidding local farmers for land.

Le groupe singapourien Olam démarre en octobre prochain, un projet de 300 000 hectares de palmiers à huile. Le ministère de l’Agriculture lance une opération d’identification des populations rurales en vue de leur expropriation.

The UAE and other Gulf states in collaboration with Singapore companies are entering the Chinese agriculture market to ensure food security.

The global boom in commodities has raised the profile of three Asian agribusinesses: Olam, Wilmar and Noble, all with important farmland holdings.

Olam CEO says his company utilises political risk insurance from the World Bank and other sources for its agri-investments in Africa.

Gabon committs a land bank of 300,000 hectares to Olam for palm and rubber plantation development.

Mr Verghese says that Olam sees "sustainable value" in investing in agriculture, including farmland, and that GM crops are an inevitable "must".

Singapore is eyeing a gigantic farming project in northeast China that could help the small, densely populated city-state diversify its food supplies, while offering export opportunities for its expertise in food safety and investment opportunities for its businesses.

Wilmar claim to be investing in project that will employ 500 people with investment capital of $40 million. Yet the land in question supports the entire fishing industry in Tema.

Some natives of Tema Manhean have prevented officials of WILMAR, a Singaporean edible oil refinery company, from developing a piece of land near the naval base which was allegedly sold to the company by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.