Governments in developing countries should exercise caution when granting land concessions to foreign governments and corporations. Despite the short-term investments, most – if not all – of the production will be exported, making the long-term food security situation even worse in these host countries.
‘The small farmers cannot do anything in the face of this giant. We can only cry over the loss of our ancestor’s land, that we have tried to preserve as best as possible,’ says Rindra Andriambola, co-ordinator of the Andasibe red rice Slow Food praesidium.
Soaring food prices and lack of land have forced Mauritius, a net food importing country, to launch an ambitious initiative. The island state is starting to grow its food in other African states where land is lying fallow and labour is cheap.
Reports indicate the growing Euro-Arab-Asian interest to buy land in Africa for the food security of their home population, not Africa´s. However, seldom do these reports link the the appetite for farmland and energy investment on the continent with the current global economic crises.
Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice producer, plans to lease Cambodian farmland to grow rice in areas close to the border, officials said this week.
“[Middle East investors] wanted to go on a long-term lease of huge tracts of land and they will plant various crops and then enter into a contract to buy the produce because they need food to feed their people,” Trade Secretary Peter Favila told reporters.
The investments aim to meet Saudi Arabia’s increasing demand for fruits, vegetables and livestock products
"A path to agro-investments replacing international food aid"
Countries in the Gulf and in Africa can form mutually beneficial partnerships, with Africa supplying fertile arable land and the Gulf investing in technology, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs.
Over the past few years Laos has seen a surge of foreign investment in farms and plantations from neighboring countries keen to acquire rubber, sugar, and other agricultural commodities. Under this project, noncommercial details of land concession awards will be posted on a public website to improve transparency, while the commercial terms will be kept in a confidential database for monitoring compliance.
An estimated $238.6 million will be alloted by the Saudis to set up cash crop fruit plantations consisting of bananas, mangoes, and pineapples, an agriculture official said.
Saudi Arabia intends investing in farming in SA, the Saudi commerce and industry minister, Abdulla Ahmed Zeinal Ali Reza, told a joint economic commission on Monday.
