Olivier de Schutter, rapporteur spécial des Nations unies sur le droit à l’alimentation, commente le phénomène du rachat de terres agricoles dans les pays du Sud et le projet Addax Bioenergy en Sierra Leone
«Ces plantations ne servent pas à remplir les estomacs des Sierra-Léonais, mais à exporter vers l’Europe. Elles ne sont d’aucun bénéfice pour notre pays,» dit Theophilus Gbenda
Cargill Inc., the world’s largest agribusiness company, has announced the sale of their palm oil plantations in the remote tropical nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG)
"En Mali vamos a hacer movilizaciones frente a ese acaparamiento de tierras."
Devenu une puissance agricole mondiale majeure, le plus grand pays d’Amérique du Sud veut faire bénéficier l’Afrique de son expertise dans l’exploitation des ressources agricoles et y transposer son modèle au nom d’une solidarité Sud-Sud.
Citadel's Karim Sadek dismisses talk of land grabbing as an “academic concern”, saying “there should definitely be a priority for the produce to be sold on the local market, if there is a paying market for it”.
Ukraine has abundant land resource, only ten per cent of which is currently controlled by corporations.
"EAC Partner States should resist the leasing or selling of large chunks of land to foreign entities for production of food or bio-fuel feedstock solely for export, which will be disadvantageous to food security in the region" says the East African Legislative Assembly
More radical steps are being taken to increase production, both by the government, which recently approved two new strains of genetically modified rice, and by agricultural entrepreneurs, who are buying and cultivating land in neighbouring countries.
The lack of systematic collection of data and categorising private and official investments from the Gulf has made it difficult to reach an accurate estimate of total investments, made so far.
Educating the peasant movement is a key to genuine land reform implementation and the position of peasant movements as strong political bases against land grabbing in the future.
"What Karuturi is doing is what Africa needs, wants and deserves," says Ram Karuturi. Yet 400 Ethiopians have signed a petition saying they received no compensation after being evicted from land taken over by Karuturi.
"Despite a December 23, 2009, Interfax press report that President Nazarbayev instructed the prosecutors to punish those who disseminate information about the sale of land to foreigners, opposition leaders have continued to advocate against the transfer of land to China," reports the US Embassy in Astana
The land sale moratorium has been extended until 1 January 2012.
Following Brazil's trail, Indonesia is encouraging foreign and local investors to lease huge swathes of fertile countryside and help make the country a major food producer.
