Lorenzo Cotula discusses highlights from his latest academic piece, in which he explores whether investment treaties protect 'land grab' deals, and how these impact the land rights of rural people.
- Land Portal
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20 October 2016
Golden Veroleum Liberia is building one of the largest palm oil plantations in the civil-war scarred country, bringing jobs but dividing communities
Palm oil giant Golden Veroleum has bulldozed religious sites in southeast Liberia and has paid police armed with assault rifles to protect its plantations, according to a new Global Witness exposé.
- Global Witness
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20 October 2016
With land grabbing fast becoming one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, the International Criminal Court has started to recognize that the guise of economic development can mask many crimes against humanity.
- OpenDemocracy
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19 October 2016
Preqin estimates that more than 100 unlisted agriculture/farmland-focused funds have closed since 2006, raising about $22 billion in aggregate capital.
- Beef Central
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19 October 2016
EIA releases today a video that shows how large-scale oil palm project has negatively impacted the lives of community members, threatened biodiversity hotspots, and failed to meet development promises to communities in the Southwest region of Cameroon.
Six ethnic Kuoy families were violently evicted from their homes in Preah Vihear over the weekend, with further evictions threatened for another 13 families.
- Phnom Penh Post
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18 October 2016
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference laments the rate at which multinational companies indiscriminately acquire lands leading to displacement of occupants.
Changes in legal frameworks are redefining control over natural resources, and facilitating transitions toward more commercialised land relations
Three-quarters of the 20 states most affected by land grabbing are in Africa and Asia and among the poorest in the world, and in these countries the rights of the population have scant protection.
Companies are betting that global appetites will increasingly rely on Black Sea soil even as obstacles to growth remain.
- Bloomberg
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15 October 2016
Investing in agroecology requires a drastically different model than the agribusiness-led version many Governments are currently pursuing
- Ecologist
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14 October 2016