China is not pushing to expand overseas farming and Chinese companies are less active in their investment abroad because of concerns of potential political risks, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia has announced the arrival of the first food crop harvested in Saudi-owned farms abroad, in a sign that the kingdom is moving faster than expected to outsource agricultural production.

The African Union has until July 2009 to decide on an extremely sensitive issue highlighted by the Daewoo case in Madagascar, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

The Saudi Binladin empire has frozen its plan to invest $4.3 billion in developing rice crops in Merauke in Papua Province and a separate project in Southeast Sulawesi Province.

Governments in developing countries should exercise caution when granting land concessions to foreign governments and corporations. Despite the short-term investments, most – if not all – of the production will be exported, making the long-term food security situation even worse in these host countries.

‘The small farmers cannot do anything in the face of this giant. We can only cry over the loss of our ancestor’s land, that we have tried to preserve as best as possible,’ says Rindra Andriambola, co-ordinator of the Andasibe red rice Slow Food praesidium.

Organizaciones como Vía Campesina -una “internacional” de campesinos que se organizó para resistir la globalización neoliberal y proponer caminos alternativos de soberanía alimentaria- u ONGs nacionales de Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay y otros países están inquietas hace rato por la extranjerización de las tierras, y han forzado en algunos casos la sanción de leyes protectivas.

En novembre 2008, Ouyang Riping, le PDG de la société agricole DTE était en visite au Sénégal. Reçu en grande pompe par Abdoulaye Wade, ils ont célébré “l’amitié sino-sénégalaise” lors d’une cérémonie officielle. En résulte un accord de production : la Chine devrait produire au Sénégal plusieurs tonnes de sésame dans les années à venir.

Según cálculos de la Federación Argaria Argentina, casi un 10 por ciento del territorio nacional está vendido a extranjeros o a la venta

La FAO s’apprête à sortir ces jours-ci un mode d’emploi sur la bonne gouvernance foncière. Histoire que le nouveau droit foncier de Madagascar ne soit pas défini par Daewoo Logistics. Et que les petits paysans du Sud participent enfin au débat

Soaring food prices and lack of land have forced Mauritius, a net food importing country, to launch an ambitious initiative. The island state is starting to grow its food in other African states where land is lying fallow and labour is cheap.

Reports indicate the growing Euro-Arab-Asian interest to buy land in Africa for the food security of their home population, not Africa´s. However, seldom do these reports link the the appetite for farmland and energy investment on the continent with the current global economic crises.