Near the edge of the Sahara Desert, in Egypt’s West Minya, Chinese drillers bore deep into the earth, tapping groundwater to irrigate a once 500-hectare stretch of desert – now home to the world’s largest beet sugar factory, owned by UAE investors.

New report points to a surge in demand for land in the Global South, where large tracts of land are suitable for carbon projects, but land tenure systems are often insecure or informal.

"Whereas the Bank’s push for large-scale agribusiness is global, the African continent is its central target"

The 10 largest transnational landowners in the world control an area larger than Japan, according to a new report. This accumulation fuels human rights abuse, inequalities, and environmental destruction, and underlines the need for redistributive policies.

Madagascar's Minister of Foreign Affairs tells UAE business leaders that "with 36 million hectares of arable land, there is immense potential for agribusiness and agricultural transformation” in her country

Australian farmers aren’t the only ones cheering the rocketing price of almonds and beef from the simmering trade tensions between the US and China – a cohort of fund managers is also in the money.

Durian farmers in Malaysia’s Pahang state are preparing for a legal fight to protect farmland they say is being seized by a newly-established company without proper authority.

Some villagers say they are being pressured to give up fertile land traditionally used for subsistence farming for a project called the Malipati Agrihub, with no clear benefit or consent from the broader community.

The Nasarawa State High Court sitting in Obi has ordered all parties in a land dispute involving 21 Tiv communities, the Nasarawa State government, and the Nigerian Army to maintain the status quo and preserve the disputed 10,000 hectares of ancestral farmlands pending the determination of the suit.

"Oman’s food-security programmes and water technology can link with East Africa’s arable land and examples are Kenya’s tea and coffee farms and Tanzania’s horticulture," the Chairman of East African Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture says

According to an article in Reporterre, TotalEnergies has quietly abandoned the project, with only 12.5% of the proposed trees planted.

The project with Israeli firm LR Group will develop a large farming hub spread over 10,000 hectares to grow rice, maize, and soybeans using advanced tools and techniques.