farmlandgrab.org | Special content

Large Emirates market opens up for more Vietnamese commodities
- VNS
- 18 December 2008
"A number of agriculture investment projects are also in the pipeline. We are co-ordinating with some regions to find areas to plant rice for export to the UAE."
Sudan: Can Local Investors Beat Foreign Investment?
- IPS
- 18 December 2008
Sudan is hoping to use foreign cash to reinvigorate its under-performing agricultural sector, but there is growing disagreement over the extent to which outsiders, rather than local farmers, should be taking control of the industry.
Qatar earmarks $1b for Mindanao projects
- Manila Standard
- 17 December 2008
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap noted that Qatar is looking for about 100,000 hectares of land for food production.
Africa’s silver lining
- FDI Magazine
- 17 December 2008
“Now we are facing the food crisis. Madagascar can have a lot to offer on this: we have land, we are using less than 10% of arable land in Madagascar. The big foreign investors can come in, work together with us. They will get good return on investment and we will get food for the population."
Pakistan: GoP finalises plan to offer ownership of agri lands to investors
- Daily Times
- 17 December 2008
The Pakistani government has finalised plans to offer ownership of agricultural lands to investors for farming to achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture produce, Federal Minister for Investment, Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan told Daily Times. “We are extremely enthusiastic in providing areas for farming with great incentives,” he added.
Arabs to buy WA land?
- Farm Weekly
- 17 December 2008
Agriculture Department denies a recent WA trade delegation visit to several Middle Eastern countries was to promote selling WA agricultural land for grain and livestock.
Madagascar, l'affaire Daewoo confirmée
- www.laverite.mg
- 16 December 2008
La tension monte de plusieurs crans dans les zones touchées par les demandes de terrains. Les paysans sont prêts à défendre leurs biens et à s’opposer à toutes formes de spoliation de leurs terrains. Un soulèvement populaire est à craindre si les autorités restent indifférentes à leurs revendications
Mitsui May Boost Farm Investment Overseas on Demand
- Bloomberg
- 16 December 2008
Mitsui & Co., Japan's second-largest trading company, may increase investment in farming overseas to secure food supplies as competition from China, the biggest grain consumer, intensifies. The company is seeking new targets after taking a 39.35 percent stake in Multigrain AG, which produces soybeans in Brazil, the world's second-largest grower.
Minister backs Arab farm deals
- The West
- 16 December 2008
Agriculture Minister Terry Redman says Western Australia should embrace moves by Arab interests in the Middle East to buy prime Wheatbelt farmland to secure their future food supplies. Two groups from the Middle East are due to visit the State early next year as they consider investments of up to $1 billion in cropping, sheep and dairy production in WA.
Scandale après les visées de Daewoo sur les terres agricoles de Madagascar
- VSD
- 15 December 2008
Plusieurs journaux coréens estiment les Européens bien mal placés pour donner des leçons : des firmes britanniques ne cultivent-elles pas déjà des agro-carburants à Madagascar, au Mozambique, en Ethiopie ?
Daewoo s’apprête à coloniser Madagascar
- Chicago Tribune
- 15 December 2008
Devant les préoccupations internationales, Daewoo et les autorités malgaches ont aussitôt indiqué que rien n’avait été signé, et que le contrat en était encore au stade de la prospection. Mais ni la surface, ni la durée du bail, ni sa gratuité n’ont été contestées de part et d’autre.
Global grain rush under way as rich nations snap up farmland overseas
- Chicago Tribune
- 14 December 2008
Just how much security the new land investments may provide countries and corporations remains uncertain, experts say. Future governments in countries now renting or selling land may well fail to abide by deals their predecessors cut, particularly if they face food or land shortages at home.