Several Indian companies have planned huge investments in the African mining and agriculture sectors, buoyed by the prospects of high returns, on the back of rich resources and low labour and input costs, stakeholders maintain.

Foreign investments help Ethiopia to develop, and provide knowledge, skills and taxes, says Ethiopia's Ambassador to the UK.

The issue of land grabbing has been on the agenda for some years now, but it seems that the academic focus is changing.

Around 800 farmers protested Friday against a government decision to seize land from a village in Gezira state, Sudan's agricultural heartland, without compensating the owners, witnesses said.

South Africa's commercial farmers say they will continue setting up in other countries to flee "unreasonable" laws, such as a new bill the government says will "stop cruelty against farm workers".

Wilmar's take-over of Sucrogen gave the company a significant amount of cane land that it increased with the purchase of additional farms to guarantee cane supply, outbidding local farmers for land.

Prime minister's adviser on science and innovation wants Australian companies to consider buying land in Mozambique to counterbalance foreign purchases of farming land in Australia and shore up Australia's food supply.

The UAE has purchased thousands of acres of arable land in Sudan to grow products for the home market, while Bahraini investors help meet demand in the kingdom from farmland bought in Thailand and the Philippines.

On October 25, 2010 the company signed a Protocol d'Accord with the Ministry of Agriculture to survey and map additional underutilized land in Guinea estimated to be up to 1.5 million hectares of combined area and prepare it for third party development under 99-year leases.

The Australian Parliament has moved to quell some of the anxieties surrounding a perceived foreign buy-up of local land, last week passing a motion regarding foreign ownership of agricultural land and agribusiness.

Investors pour $140m into an acquisition warchest raised by Kernel Holding, and $250m to support expansion plans at farm operator Mriya Agro.

Some claim it’s for food security, some say it’s a land grab