Private equity-backed reforestation startup re.green has signed a partnership with Agro Penido to restore 600 hectares of land owned by the Brazilian agribusiness firm with native species from the Amazon rainforest

The biofuel project led by Uganda'a Jitmat and Face Power of the US will cultivate sweet sorghum on 6,000 ha using a nucleus farm and surrounding smallholder farming model.

Japan's No.2 crude oil refiner, Idemitsu Kosan, will begin a trial plantation of the non-edible oilseed tree crop Pongamia in Australia to assess its potential as a feedstock for aviation fuel, in cooperation with the US company Terviva.

The food estate in Merauke - spanning more than two million hectares - seems set to join the long list of such projects that have failed since the concept was first proposed in 2010, only to leave behind broad damage to the rights of indigenous peoples and the environment, including the loss of customary land belongs to 40,000 indigenous people.

An Indonesian government plan to clear forests spanning an area twice the size of South Korea for food and biofuel crops has sparked fears of massive greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.

"Brazil cannot achieve its emission reduction targets by simply reducing deforestation. We need to restore (deforested) areas by creating concessions" of land for the carbon market, says Para governor Helder Barbalho.

BPL Pensioen, a Dutch pension fund for agricultural and horticultural workers, has made a fresh investment of €90m in ASR Real Estate’s Dutch Farmland Fund, which owns 39,000 hectares in the Netherlands worth some €2.1bn.

"Whether it is a farmer or an investor, they are now viewing land as an asset class to get rich off of speculation, not the productive capability of that land."

The negotiations come amid a backdrop of growing scrutiny regarding land leasing practices in Africa. Critics argue that large-scale land acquisitions by foreign firms can lead to land dispossession and adverse environmental impacts. It remains to be seen how Al Dahra addresses these issues.

Agricultural workers and a legal advocacy group have raised concerns over a “fast-tracked” bill seeking to extend land lease terms for foreign investors to nearly a century, warning of its potential negative impact on farmers, plantation workers and indigenous cultural communities.

The Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land Intensive Agriculture is a World Bank Project executed across Nigeria to ensure land acquisition and resettlement for large-scale agribusiness investments are undertaken in line with established international standards.

SRC and LAC operations on customary land have historically been conducted without the consent of local communities, leading to land grabs, destruction of livelihoods, and various human rights violations.