Villagers representing more than 1,000 families that accuse sugarcane plantations around the country of stealing their land gathered in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to once again call on the government to help.

In Cambodia, more than 15,000 people have been forcibly evicted to make way for sugar cane plantations.

A new poll by the Lowy Institute found 87 per cent of respondents opposed allowing foreign companies to buy Australian agricultural land — six percentage points higher than a similar survey four years ago.

Malawi government tells Chinese investors it is halfway through a process to identify 10,000 estates lying idle that can be opened up for commercial farming.

"Money is still being pumped into the sector almost regardless of geography," says director of Primer International.

Australia has granted a three-year extension for a Chinese company to reduce its 80 percent stake in Australian cotton farm Cubbie Station after it indicated it could not meet the October 2015 deadline.

Farmers on Bugula Island, the second largest in Lake Victoria, are now locked in a legal battle with Bidco, which says it has not been involved in any land transactions.

The World Bank’s board has granted a massive agribusiness project in East Africa a waiver that exempts it from following the bank’s Indigenous Peoples Policy—sparking fears that the development lender is making an end run to resurrect a policy that it abandoned in public.

"To attract more private sector investments, ACP countries need to adapt their policies and reinforce the capacity of their agribusinesses."

Land speculation stimulates the expansion of plantations across Brazil, increasing land conflicts and displacement of campesino and Indigenous communities.

The World Bank’s board has granted an East African agribusiness project called SAGCOT a waiver that exempts it from following the bank’s Indigenous Peoples Policy — sparking fears among human rights advocates that the development lender is setting a precedent that weakens protections for indigenous peoples.

India’s plan to lease farm land in Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi to grow pulses for domestic consumers is not the first such project