Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi talks about the leasing of large areas of Ethiopian farmland to foreign investors during a panel on African agriculture at the World Economic Forum

When will governments recognise the immense potential of their own farmers and their sustainable, diverse family farming systems, that are so desperately in need of genuine 'responsible' agricultural investment to assure food and seed sovereignty, asks Joan Baxter

Tanzania's President says his government has decided to work with the private sector in large scale farming and the Tazara corridor is the starting point.

Macquarie Group Ltd. plans to own and run 500,000 acres of soybean and grain farms in Brazil over the next three years

Gaiacor International, together with its strategic partner MITC Investments, Ltd., has commenced negotiations with Agro North with the intent of forming a joint venture to acquire and reclaim agricultural land in Argentina.

The long-term danger I foresee, in the worst case scenario, is that the debt spiral will eventually converge with the land grabs.

AgriNurture Inc has signed the enclosed MoA with Far Eastern Agricultural Investment Company of Saudi Arabia for food crop plantations and processing plants in the Philippines.

Même si l’ampleur des dégâts n’atteint pas encore celle des 28 Etats africains déjà durement frappés par l’accaparement des terres, il n’en demeure pas moins qu’en Côte d’ivoire, le phénomène existe.

De senaste åren har jordbruksmark i Afrika blivit ett glödhett investeringsobjekt för både stater och privata intressen. På lokal nivå hamnar världens fattiga ofta i kläm. I Nyanzaprovinsen i västra Kenya fick byborna se sitt levebröd försvinna ner i gapet på ett amerikanskt risföretag.

The World Bank is marching ahead with plans to facilitate global land grabs, while not releasing a report that confirms the negative impacts of these deals for local communities.

Unfortunately, the US Senate inquiry into Goldman Sach's alleged malfeasance is unlikely to question why the company in 2008 decided to acquire ten intensive poultry farms in China's Hunan and Fujian provinces for $300 million.

"Investors like Citadel Capital and Goldman Sachs must be stopped from acquiring large tracts of land in Africa because this practice has become a serious threat to the continent's food sovereignty"