It is clear that land-grabbing is an inherent part of the agribusiness model promoted by institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, IFAD, the FAO or the EU.

Qatar is in preliminary talks with the governments of Argentina and Ukraine to buy farmland for cereals production, the head of the Gulf Arab state's national food security programme said on Wednesday.

The UAE controls more than 2,800 square kilometers [280,000 ha] in farms in Sudan -- more than triple the area of Bahrain -- as a result of its decision to invest in agricultural projects in fertile Arab nations to slash its soaring food import bill

Farmers from the developing world called on governments this week to curb a global land rush in which millions of hectares of their terrain are being taken over by foreign private investors.

UAE investors are pumping huge funds into the agricultural sector given the availability of vast arable lands and water and production inputs along with a large market which can serve as a gateway to European and African markets.

“We are calling for a moratorium on land grabbing until much tougher rules are in place to safeguard the human rights of poor communities on the ground,” ActionAid says.

"I look forward to watching the [CFS] evolve and address issues such as land acquisition," says UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Indian rice exporter Amira Group plans to acquire 25,000 hectares of agricultural land in Cambodia, and is discussing further farnland acquisitions with the governments of Angola and Sierra Leone.

Foreign investors are already knee deep in Ukrainian agriculture, with full or partial stakes in around half of the country’s top 60 agricultural holdings.

A plot of land has been chosen for Iran to establish an agro-industry complex to produce wheat and sugar in Sudan

African governments should avoid rushing into big land lease deals with foreign investors or risk deepening poverty and ramping up social tensions, an official at the UN's Food and Agriculture Office said