Karuturi's 15 John Deere tractors plough 500 hectares a day on its 300,000 land concession in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. This is land clearance on a gigantic scale.

Foreign investment in Australia's food chain is increasing at a rate that is causing concern, and not just for people on the land.

Brazil is preparing rules that will block foreign governments, state-owned companies and speculators from buying agricultural land while allowing in “genuine” private sector investors.

Investors from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain are currently planning to inrease investment in the agriculture sector of the Philippines as part of their government’s food security programmes.

Saudi company Menafea Holding intends to invest $125 million in a 5,000-hectare farm in Zambia.

Farm Lands of Guinea Limited controls nearly a quarter of a million acres of underutilized West African agricultural holdings under an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture of Guinea.

Around one million hectares of Romania’s farmland are in foreign hands, and the interest in investing in agricultural plots is growing.

Multinationals, foreign entrepreneurs and investment funds eying Romania as a place to develop have either bought up land as a place to develop agriculture, lease or land bank.

Food investments may drive Qatar's sovereign wealth fund to look at Latin America as an important investment destination

The first issue of Development 54 starts the one year debate on sustainability by looking at the dilemma of the current global land grabs in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

I urge the Government to stop conceding to foreigners the natural resources and the national reserves of the peoples of Ethiopia, and to begin helping Ethiopian farmers preserve and farm their lands organically.

These ‘food pirates’ come with bags full of foreign direct investment and are moving swiftly where land is available, investing in crops that can be shipped back home.