Recent unconfirmed media reports suggest that these countries are seeking as much as 20 million acres on which to grow crops that can be shipped back home for domestic consumption.

It has now emerged that the land in question is part of the fertile Tana River delta in Coast Province, the same stretch where plans by Mumias Sugar Company to build a sugar factory have raised objections from pastoralists claiming that their animals will lack pasture and the environment will be destroyed.

The government aims to net more investment from Middle East oil state main players next year, in particular in the agricultural sector, despite the global economic downturn, says a government official.

La gran transferencia o venta barata de tierras tiene lugar en un momento y en unos lugares en los que el número de campesinos sin tierra está creciendo, los campesinos de subsistencia están siendo expulsados por el estado neocolonial y llevados a la quiebra por medio de las deudas y la falta de crédito.

"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 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.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap noted that Qatar is looking for about 100,000 hectares of land for food production.

“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."

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.

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.

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 & 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.