The second international academic workshop on ‘Global Land Grabbing’ will be held on 17-19 October 2012 at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA. This event is presented by the Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI) and the Cornell Department of Development Sociology. Among the confirmed keynote speakers is the new Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Brazilian academic, José Graziano da Silva.

Agriculture Investment Summit 2012 is an event for investors and agriculture companies to learn about partnership & investment opportunities in agricultural commodities, companies and farmland in Asian regions.

Le Festival de films est l’événement central de la campagne ALIMENTERRE. Du 15 octobre au 30 novembre, en France, en Europe et en Afrique de l'ouest, il invite à des débats avec des spécialistes d'Europe ou d'Afrique sur les enjeux agricoles et alimentaires Nord-Sud, à partir d’une sélection de films documentaires.

Découvrez la sélection de films de l'édition 2012, dont "Planète à vendre" sur l'accaparement de terres.

11-12 Oct 2012 - PARKROYAL - Yangon - Burma

Will discuss issues around ownership of our natural resources and farming land and what it means for food security.

Special session on "Securing agricultural products across the GCC and the role that can be played by the ASEAN countries."

This conference will build on the inaugural Global AgInvesting Asia event in December 2011. At that meeting, hundreds of allocators, fund managers, and industry executives came together to discuss the burgeoning asset class of agriculture and its surrounding themes.

L'association aGter organise une rencontre-débat avec Samuel Nguiffo, secrétaire général du Centre pour l'Environnement et le Développement du Cameroun (CED), à partir de l'analyse du giga-projet de plantation de palmier à huile Herakles.
La réunion aura lieu le lundi 17 septembre 2012, de 18h00 à 20h00 (heure de Paris, France) dans la salle de conférence du Jardin Tropical de Paris : 45 bis Avenue de la Belle Gabrielle à Nogent sur Marne (station RER A Nogent sur Marne à 20 minutes de Châtelet).
Inscription préalable nécessaire auprès de Marta Fraticelli, par mail ([email protected]) ou par téléphone (01 43 94 72 59).

On Special Assignment this week we expose a controversial land deal in Mozambique involving South African sugar giant, Tongaat Hulett and government officials in Mozambique. The KZN based company acquired an initial concession of 30-thousand hectares to grow sugar cane. However, in their quest for bigger profits they have acquired additional land of thousands of hectares.

Our investigation has found that this land belonged to small-scale farmers who depended on it to feed their families. The peasants were convinced to give up their land to Tongaat–Hulett in exchange for jobs in the sugar cane plantations. However, as we have discovered, this controversial deal is one-sided and is said to be behind the displacement and loss of livelihoods for hundreds of small-scale farmers.

Tongaat Hulett’s Mozambique expansion has seen the company grow its profits by nearly two hundred percent per annum. However local farmers are yet to reap the benefits. Our investigation has also found that the company’s alleged poor water management systems and its dumping of toxic chemicals into the Inkomati River, are negatively affecting local communities who are highly dependent on this water source.

What recourse do these communities have?

“BITTER HARVEST” is produced by Frank Ferro and will be aired on Thursday the 13th of September 2012 on Special Assignment – broadcast on SABC 3 at 21:00.

Investment in agricultural land by international actors has increased dramatically in recent years. The food price crisis in 2008, initiated by droughts in grain-producing parts of the world, triggered an international rush for farmland, primarily in Africa and Latin America. The effects on local development and land rights were rapidly brought to global attention. However, there has been a surprising silence on one fundamental aspect of this rush; the water that is needed for agricultural production on the acquired land. It seems that water is forgotten in all attempts to guide the international community on how to deal with the crucial issue of land acquisitions. This is why the High Level Panel at this year's World Water Week in Stockholm, will address "The Global Rush for Water and Land". Watch the webcast: http://bambuser.com/v/2937627