The rulers in the Persian Gulf are looking at other ways of ensuring food security. Rather than rely on the vagaries of the market and unstable import sources, countries across the GCC, through sovereign wealth funds and development agencies, are seeking to buy up the means of production itself.

The largest land deal in South Sudan to date was negotiated between Nile Trading and Development Inc. (NTD) and Mukaya Payam Cooperative in March 2008. The 49-year land lease of 600,000 hectares allows NTD full rights to exploit all natural resources in the leased land

As the increase in oil prices continue to help boost the income of Persian Gulf nations, Turkey is becoming a magnet for Gulf-based investors aiming to establish strategic food reserves

The Delta State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with a British firm, Trans4mation Pistton Field Nigeria Limited, to promote agriculture and turn the state into a formidable food basket.

A UK-based agricultural company, Transformation Agric-Tech Limited, has signed a 30-year Memorandum of Understanding with Ndi Okereke Abam, a rural community in Arochukwu Council area of Abia state for an agricultural project.

A Kuwaiti delegation last week met with the Myanmar cabinet and industry officials to discuss investment in the agricultural sector.

A decade after capitalism transformed Russian industry, an agricultural revolution is stirring the countryside. The change is being driven by soaring global food prices (the price of wheat alone rose 77 percent last year) and a new reform allowing foreigners to own agricultural land. Together, they have created a land rush in rural Russia.

Egypt has agreed to buy a million tonnes of wheat from Kazakhstan to meet local market needs, and Uganda has allocated farmland for the Arab country to grow wheat and corn, Egyptian state-owned media said on Saturday.

Gulf countries contemplating direct agro-investments in central Asia and Africa should evaluate the relative merit of these investments in comparison to similar potential in Europe and Latin America, the Gulf Research Centre said in a recent report.

Gulf countries contemplating direct agro-investments in central Asia and Africa should evaluate the relative merit of these investments in comparison to similar potential in Eur-ope and Latin America, the Gulf Research Centre said in a recent report.

It is becoming harder for Koreans to buy grain, regardless of price. That is why the government is hurrying to cultivate overseas crops and to secure stable import sources.

For the past 30 years, Jose Vilomba, 47, has walked barefoot on one of Africa’s most fertile valleys using his hands and a shovel to plant vegetables to feed his family. “I’ve been doing this for years,” said Vilomba. “It’s what I do for a living.” But if post-civil war elections in Angola end well, the state-owned land Vilomba is working on could soon be sold to major food producers and the expiration date on his small harvest could equally apply to his own way of life.