Two Saudi firms eye agribusiness investment abroad

• Reuters
• 15 Mar 2009

Two listed Saudi companies plan to invest in either farming or agri-business abroad under a state-sponsored plan to ensure steady food supplies.

Cowboys of Kurdistan

• The Kurdish Globe
• 14 Mar 2009

Foreign investors have been given licenses to run cow farms across Kurdistan Region.

Bahrain to set up $500m Manila agri JV

• TradeArabia News Service
• 14 Mar 2009

Bahrain and the Philippines have signed an agreement to set up a $500 million joint agricultural company to help achieve food sufficiency in the kingdom and the GCC states.

Saudi Arabia interested in agro-industy of Kazakhstan

• Central Asia News
• 13 Mar 2009

Saudi Arabia will invest in agro-industy of Kazakhstan, reported Interfaz-Kazakhstan with reference to the Ministry of Agriculture.

10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now: 7. The Rent-A-Country

• TIME Magazine
• 13 Mar 2009

Growing crops for strangers, of course, is nothing new. The long, grim march of colonialism was driven by Europe’s penchant for sugar, tea, tobacco and other crops that don’t flourish in northern climes. But as climate change and growing populations put ever more pressure on the earth, state-backed searches for land and food contracts as part of a national food-security strategy strike many as fundamentally new.

Qatar fund to target food and energy

• Financial Times
• 13 Mar 2009

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund will turn its focus to commodities - particularly food and energy - in the second half of 2009, a senior official said yesterday.

Middle East targets land, energy deals

• Phnom Penh Post
• 13 Mar 2009

Cambodia's traditional sectors are foundering in the wake of the global financial crisis, but the Kingdom's farmlands could bring billions from Middle Eastern countries seeking food security.

UAE to Invest 700 Billion U.S. Dlrs to East Asia

• Xinhua
• 12 Mar 2009

The United Arab Emirates plans to invest up to 700 billion US dollars in East Asia as the country had huge profits from soaring oil prices in recent years, Head of the Indonesian Capital Investment Coordinating Board Muhammad Lutfi said in Jakarta Thursday. Among the sectors for possible investment are energy, agriculture, tourism and food security.

Horticulture sector: $5bn investment from China, ME likely: ASF

• Daily Times
• 12 Mar 2009

China and the Middle East countries will invest in horticulture sector of Pakistan to the tune of $5 billion during the current year 2009, an official of Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) said Wednesday.

Kazakh grain producers look to southern export markets

• Business New Europe
• 12 Mar 2009

Investment in the agriculture sector is currently problematic due to the international financial crisis; last year’s interest in buying up land or companies in this sector has melted away.

Ethiopia - nazret reader responds to Ambassador Berhanu Kebede's letter to FT

• Nazret
• 11 Mar 2009

"Don’t tell me the Saudis grow food in Ethiopia to feed Ethiopians. Here is the conflict. Food shortage and famine is still rampant in today’s Ethiopia."

View of Ethiopia that is out of date

• Financial Times
• 11 Mar 2009

"Huge tracts of unutilised agricultural land are available" writes the Ambassador of Ethiopia to the UK