Ernest Corea, a former senior consultant with the Washington-based Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), told IPS the surrender of nationally-owned farm land and land rights to foreign interests - whether individuals, the corporate sector or governments - amounts to an erosion of sovereignty.

Le processus d’expropriation des terres de la Vallée, en Mauritanie, par des multinationales ne fait que commencer.

The Congolese government said it had signed similar agreements with China, Brazil and Israel.

"The idea is to show that the Arabs may invest in agriculture in Brazil without the need for purchasing land," says Eduardo Sampaio

Black Earth Farming Ltd., which controls an area of Russian farmland four times the size of New York City, plans to start exporting grain and begin forward sales with traders and fertilizer suppliers.

Acheter des terres arables à l'étranger est devenu un investissement stratégique. Va-t-on vers un dépeçage de certains pays pauvres ? Reportage "Paroles du Monde" avec des représentants d'Agter, Le Monde et Agrogénération.

Officials in Ethiopia hope that the investment can help improve agriculture, replacing ox-and-plough with tractors, but some are concerned about whether the deals benefit the lessors.

Japan is leading an international effort to define a new set of 'investor principles' to govern such deals. These efforts are gaining support but will need to involve investors, many of whom are far removed from the donors, global banks and multinational corporations that are used to working with such initiatives.

El ministro de agricultura congoleño, Rigobert Maboundou, dijo que este acuerdo forma parte de un Plan de Acción de su Gobierno para consolidar la agricultura como un pilar de su economía y que, además de este pacto, el mayor de este tipo firmado en África, tienen otros similares con China, Brasil e Israel.

There has been criticism of the deal in France, pointing out that Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the Congolese president, is widely considered to be severely corrupt. But de Jager believes such attacks are motivated by a desire to protect French [farm export] interests against competition.

Peter Ndoro spoke to Dr Yao Graham, coordinator of Third World Network-Africa, a development agency, asking whether these deals really transfer technical expertise to locals.

"The motivation for South African farmers is simple," said Theo de Jager, Agri SA's deputy president, who helped negotiate the deal. "One in four farms must be redistributed in the next four or five years. So for new entrants into the sector and for those farmers who want to expand there is nowhere to go."