In Ukraine, mavericks gamble on scarce land

• Wall Sreet Journal
• 12 May 2008

Landkom has leased 165,000 acres from thousands of landowners in Ukraine and will reap its first big harvest this year.

Chinese firms eye Aussie farmland

• The Australian
• 12 May 2008

China's fast-growing farm corporations may be the next wave of Chinese investors in Australia, joining their already influential mining comrades.

Saudi Arabia moves agriculture abroad

• Market Research Analyst
• 12 May 2008

Saudi government moves agriculture abroad by investing in farming of staple commodities in Thailand, Brazil, India and other countries. This move represents a classic case of “absolute advantage” economy.

UAE investors buy Pakistan farmland

• Financial Times
• 11 May 2008

Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, one of the Middle East’s largest private equity companies, has been quietly buying farmland in Pakistan as part of plans by the United Arab Emirates to increase food security and to damp inflation.

Chinese debate pros and cons of overseas farming investments

• The Guardian
• 11 May 2008

“It is the government’s policy to encourage all companies to go abroad, including agricultural firms,” a Chinese Agriculture Ministry official told Reuters.

Food Fight: Wealthy nations buying up land for food

• Marketplace / American Public Media
• 09 May 2008

This week, Saudi Arabia announced plans to invest in overseas fisheries, livestock and food production, and is reportedly trying to partner with Thai rice farms to lock in future supplies. Libya is in talks with Ukraine about growing wheat there, and as China tries to feed its expanding middle class, it’s looking to buy up farmland in Africa and South America.

Firm will grow rice in Africa

• China Daily
• 09 May 2008

Chongqing Seed Corp has decided to cultivate rice on 300 hectares in Tanzania from 2009

CHINA: Buying Farmland Abroad, Ensuring Food Security

• IPS
• 09 May 2008

Rattled by rapidly rising global grain prices, China is looking at strategies to ensure long-term food security for its 1.3 billion people such as procuring farmland overseas and opposing the formation of any international grain price-fixing monopolies.

China overseas food push not realistic

• Reuters
• 09 May 2008

China's private firms are pushing to invest in farms overseas, but policy debates over whether this is in China's strategic interest have so far stopped the trend becoming an explicit government policy, a senior official said on Friday.

UAE may buy Pakistan farms

• The National
• 06 May 2008

Inflation and the spectre of long-term food shortages have prompted the UAE Government to consider a new strategic investment – the purchase of large-scale farms in Pakistan and other countries.

Over $3bn committed to Pakistan agri and dairy sector

• AME info
• 05 May 2008

MAP Services Group announced the setup of a Middle East Food Fund in partnership with various Gulf partners to act as a food production basket serving the region. The fund will invest in the agriculture sector in Pakistan, Egypt and Georgia for food and food-related products to be produced for the Gulf region.

China farms the world to feed a ravenous economy

• The Associated Press
• 04 May 2008

As Beijing scrambles to feed its galloping economy, it has already scoured the world for mining and logging concessions. Now it is turning to crops to feed its people and industries. Chinese enterprises are snapping up vast tracts of land abroad and forging contract farming deals.