SMNE independent commentary on report regarding political impact and recommendations.

Wealthy U.S. and European investors are accumulating large swaths of African agricultural lands in deals that have little accountability and give them greater control over food supply for the world's poor

Foreign speculators are increasing price volatility and supply insecurity in the global food system, according to a series of investigative reports released today by the Oakland Institute.

The studies that we have seen can prove no link between land purchases and food security, says German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Personal Assitant on African Affairs.

The world's largest commodities trader and major farmland owner is issuing a stock sale, and critics say the firm causes spikes in food prices.

Karuturi Global Ltd. may receive an additional 200,000 hectares (494,211 acres) of land from the Ethiopian government if its current 100,000-hectare concession is developed within two years, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Ethiopia slashed the size of Karuturi’s land concession that was larger than Luxembourg on concern it was too big for a single company to manage and to enable an annual migration of antelope, the government said.

Governments often justify these deals by citing their potential contribution to economic growth – however, any gains risk being greatly outweighed by negative impacts on local livelihoods, say WRI

Nigeria's Heirs Holdings Ltd. completes investment in Mtanga Farms, a 2,200 ha farming operation at the heart of Tanzania's national initiative to combat food insecurity.

Several Indian companies have planned huge investments in the African mining and agriculture sectors, buoyed by the prospects of high returns, on the back of rich resources and low labour and input costs, stakeholders maintain.

A land grab is taking place all across Africa, a transfer of control unprecedented in the post-colonial era.

Mohd Bakke Salleh, president and group chief executive of Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur earlier today that the group has identified 300,000 hectares (ha) of land in Cameroon that could be suitable for palm oil plantation.

Company expands its activities to capitalize on the soft and hard commodity resource boom in West Africa

Former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, is leading a push to get Arabs to invest in Australian farmland as part of a long term food security strategy for oil-rich Gulf States

A handful of North African countries, along with Iraq and Sudan, could feed the Gulf.

The company was granted a 220,000 ha concession in Liberia in 2009 and will begin planting oil palm on 10,000 hectares in April.

The seizing of the poor farmers' land is destroying their only hope of survival on earth.

Across Africa and the developing world, a new global land rush is gobbling up large expanses of arable land.

If former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke has his way, Saudi Arabia will produce its food in Australia.

New report by GRAIN shows how Saudi businessmen are pursuing deals in Africa that would give them control over some of the continent's most productive farmlands.

The fund will operate according to a Code of Conduct for Land Acquisition and Land Use in to prevent unsustainable practices.

Agri-Vie, a private equity fund focused on food and agribusiness investments - including farmland - in subSaharan Africa, closed its first fund with participation from Kellogg Foundation, NorFund, IFC and AfDB.

Karuturi has an agreement to provide 40,000 tons of rice to neighboring Djibouti.

“The pain to pass my lost land each day is so big that I cry,” says local chief.

Mounting concern over security of food supplies is spurring a wave of private-sector investment in Africa.

“I got in on the ground floor, others got in on the second floor, but there’s a lot of floors left to go in Africa’s economic cycle,” says farmland investor Sai Karuturi.

Land is too important to be left to the whims of international commercial interests to overrun the land rights of the ordinary people of Zambia.

"Will the Chinese government purchase goods in China to be used on their farmland in Africa? We have seen a few tenders, yes, definitely. Is this becoming a trend? Most likely, and this will be a nice add-on to the business case that we are running here."

The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch shows how land grabbing aggravates hunger in Africa, Asia and Latin America by leading to eviction of peasant communities from their main source of livelihood.

DuPont, which is taking control of Africa's largest seed company, says land investments alone would not be enough to enhance food exports from Africa.