Farmers may be reluctant to sell
- Otago Daily Times
- 15 Apr 2010
Southern NZ farmers will want to see cash before agreeing to sell their farms to a foreign company again, having been burnt once by a deal that turned sour.
Southern NZ farmers will want to see cash before agreeing to sell their farms to a foreign company again, having been burnt once by a deal that turned sour.
Gulf oil producers have abandoned long-standing nationalistic policies of achieving food self-sufficiency and switched to a more realistic approach of using their strong financial muscle to invest in farm projects in fertile countries.
Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. plans to invest in Georgia, including the purchase of farm land, following a fact-finding trip in April.
Minerals Energy Commodities Holding (MEC) is in talks with Indonesia to lease 100,000 ha of farmland in East Kalimantan for UAE's food security.
Reports indicate that the Gulf States have acquired more than 150,000 hectares of land in Balochistan near Mirani Dam to begin mechanised farming.
Pakistan will press ahead with plans to lease or sell farmland to foreign investors despite United Nations concern over such deals, arguing the land would otherwise lie fallow, Pakistan's foreign minister said.
The fund is in the process of leasing 50,000 hectares of land in Tanzania which will be complete by the end of this year and will mainly be for rice production.
This three years memorandum is not only setting a framework of cooperation but it includes some specific steps such as mutual beneficial arrangements in the agricultural sector (e.g. investment and provision of grain, development of a grain terminal)
The United Arab Emirates has decided to make robust investments in Pakistan’s energy agriculture, education and health sectors, which need huge investment, official sources said yesterday.
Which option is better? Letting the status quo prevail? Or taking advantage of opportunities offered by oil producing countries searching for safe food sources?
Voicing aversion to corporate agriculture farming, speakers at a seminar on Wednesday underlined the need for taking effective steps to counter its adverse effects in Pakistan.
Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri said in remarks late on Tuesday that the UAE's food security strategy, which includes overseas agricultural investments, would be put before the federal cabinet for consideration.