South African farmers have been offered 10 million hectares of farm land on which to grow maize and soya beans and on which to set up poultry and dairy farms in the Republic of Congo, South Africa’s main farmers union said yesterday.

Ils ont des mines inquiètes. Ce matin-là, à Niono, dans le centre du Mali, des petits producteurs de riz sont réunis au siège de leur syndicat, le Sexagon. En bout de table, Lamine Fané se lance : “La politique du gouvernement est tournée vers les investisseurs étrangers. Mais nous, qu’allons-nous devenir ?”

Al Rajhi for International Investment will spend an estimated $400 million by 2011 to produce wheat and maize in Egypt and Sudan. The Saudi private firm is already farming 42,000 hectares of farmland in Egypt this year.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder, bought 67.6 percent of a Russian farm to grow corn and soybeans, heeding a call by the Korean government to help ensure food security. The shipbuilder purchased the stake from a group of New Zealand investors for $6.5 million and plans to produce 60,000 metric tons of corn and soybeans in 2014.

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries yesterday announced it planned to lease 50,000 hectares of farmland in Russia's far east, in the latest sign of Seoul's push to increase its food security by outsourcing agricultural production overseas, writes Javier Blas

L’accord pourrait être un des plus importants contrats fonciers d’Afrique à ce jour. Dix millions d’hectares de terres agricoles sont proposées par la République du Congo à des agriculteurs sud-africains pour y cultiver du maïs et du soja et y élever de la volaille et des vaches laitières, a annoncé hier Theo De Jager, vice-président d’Agriculture South Africa (AgriSA).

Saudi Arabia is putting $800m into a new public company that will invest in overseas agricultural projects. The move signals a large step-up in Riyadh’s efforts to outsource supply for the kingdom’s food needs.

Not a day goes by without new acreage being signed over. "For Sale" ads for agricultural property are now featured in the international financial press. And there's no dearth of clients.

Two of the world's biggest land investors - Saudi Arabia and South Korea - have announced moves to improve their food security. A South Korean company is to buy 125,000 acres in Russia over the next four years and a Saudi group has set up a £600m fund to buy land.

"Je crois que les tensions seront inévitables où que ce soit, faisant des enclaves agricoles étrangères de véritables forteresses assiégées."

Le premier constructeur naval sud-coréen, Hyundai Heavy Industries, vient d'annoncer sa participation à l'effort national pour sécuriser les ressources alimentaires du pays. HHI vient d'acquérir 67,6% des parts de Khorol Zerno, propriétaire et exploitant de 10000 hectares de terres agricoles dans le grand est russe, dans la région de Khorolski.

South Korea's largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, announced it will buy a big tract of Russian farmland in the latest move by Korean firms to help their crowded country secure stable food supplies.

The Saudi Cabinet on Monday approved establishing a SR3 billion agricultural investments company that will partner the Saudi private sector in the quest to achieve food security in the Kingdom.

An agricultural investment firm owned by the Saudi government will focus on investing abroad to cultivate mainly wheat, rice, sugar and soybeans, a senior agriculture ministry official said on Monday.

With food prices rising across the globe, adventurous foreign investors can find excellent business opportunities in Ukrainian agricultural sector despite (or perhaps due to?) the global economic crisis.