A two-day “Investment Forum for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific” opened in Manila on 7 July to look at overseas leases or purchases of farmland in developing countries.

ANI is one of the few accredited companies that have the capacity and license to export fresh mango to Japan and Korea.

Calls for an overhaul of rules governing foreign ownership of farm land increased in New Zealand yesterday, coinciding with the Chinese-backed company lodging an application to buy 16 North Island dairy farms with the Overseas Investment Office.

State-backed food producing and marketing giant, Hassad Food Company, has plans to produce rice in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Discussions are at a standstill after investors, a joint Arab-foreign company based in the Philippines, insist on owning the lands allocated by the Sudanese government to Jordan for the project,

Communities throughout Indonesia are losing land to companies seeking to profit from the booming palm oil industry.

Hong Kong-based Natural Dairy says it has relodged its application with the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to buy the Crafar portfolio of farms, and expects approval in the next few months.

Wilmar, which already owns 200,000 ha of sugar cane plantations in Indonesia, said it intended to use Sucrogen’s proven expertise in the sugar business to pursue growth strategies in “Indonesia and other high potential Asian markets.’’

While some North African countries are selling land, others struggling with dry climates are starting to buy land tracts overseas and in other African nations to feed their own growing populations.

Prime Minister John Key is endorsing Landcorp's bid for the 16 Crafar family farms that are in receivership.

Vietnamese and Chinese investors will cultivate 10,000 acres and 15,000 acres of land for rice and cassava in Edo State, Nigeria, respectively.

Participants denounced land grabbing and agreed to co-ordinate their efforts globally to campaign to STOP the irresponsible greedy practice by the transnational conglomerates.