The idea of combining the greed of investors with the fight against hunger as a mutually beneficial business venture has failed miserably

The $23.6 billion Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System and the $600 million Tucson Supplemental Retirement System are currently exploring potential investments in farmland as a means of diversification.

Agricultural analyst at Citi Investment Research, Tim Mitchell, recently calculated that "rural raiders" from overseas had spent "well in excess of $12 billion" over the past four years on Australian agribusinesses and farms.

Investors are pouring into farmland in the US and parts of Europe, Latin America and Africa as global food prices soar.

Jim Rogers, the co-founder with George Soros of the Quantum hedge fund, is particularly bullish about agriculture saying that shortages in a range of agricultural products will produce strong prices not only in those commodities but also in farm land.

Failing rains and drought are not the primary causes of the chronic food shortage and persistent famine hitting Ethiopia given the immense potential the country has.

Australians do realise the value of what is being sold, a land agent and rural property specialist said, "but their hands are tied because they can't raise the money".

Pambazuka News spoke to Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau about what prompted their research on large-scale investments in land in Africa and what they discovered.

Some pension funds are beginning to question their investments in commodities after accusations that massive flows into the sector have distorted markets, fuelled food inflation and hurt poor nations.

The global financial crisis may have hit tax-effective agribusiness schemes hard, but the prospects of the small group of companies that survived are anything but gloomy. "We're actually tapping into the new GFC, which is the global food crisis," says Wayne Overall, executive director of agribusiness managed investment scheme operator Almond Investors Limited

A new report published this week claims farmers in Africa are being driven off their traditional lands to make way for vast new industrial farming projects backed by European hedge funds seeking profits and foreign countries looking for cheap food.

Institutions including Harvard and Vanderbilt reportedly use hedge funds to buy land in deals that may force farmers out.

Across the Midwest, well-heeled outside investors are on the prowl to acquire the hard assets of US agribusiness, including farmland.

China's enormous sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation, may have set aside up to 1.5% or about $6 billion of its massive foreign exchange reserves to invest in New Zealand assets, including potentially dairy farms.

The Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development recently released the Land Rent Contractual Agreements for land leases between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and twenty-four companies or individuals.

So many Wall Street-types crammed the Waldorf Astoria in New York City last week for a global farmland and agribusiness conference that hosts warned the crowd of 600 not to block the fire exits.

Are land and water rights for real? How can they be guaranteed in the face of the insurmountable bargaining power that big corporations seem to posses?

There is a jobs cow waiting to be milked in Africa. It is agriculture and agri-business, says World Bank VP of Africa Region

The issue of land grabbing has been on the agenda for some years now, but it seems that the academic focus is changing.

The Arab unrest has only doubled the efforts of Gulf countries to secure food production by buying farmland around the world, as they try to buffer themselves from the economic issues that have destabilized the region.

Principles for responsible agriculture investment are stock templates, designed to deflect the fallout from a growing number of media reports of land deals between investors and governments.

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

"All of a sudden the world is waking up and saying, 'Wow, emerging markets, food security... this asset class is going to really perform in the medium term -- the next 8-20 years,'" says new convert James Howard, manager of the Futuregrowth Agri-Fund

A pioneer investor in farmland and the food price rally is looking ahead to new trends -- war, epidemics and climate change as the investment opportunities of the future.

Food prices are soaring again and the highest risks of farmland expropriation remain in Latin America, while the greatest impact of the recent rally could be on land deals in Africa.

"We want to make agriculture sexy," says the head of Macquaraie's Retail Agribuiness operation.

Real asset investments held by the fund include farmland and natural resources.

“There are people that are dying to invest large sums of money to acquire farmland in Canada that aren't Canadian citizens,” says Jan Kaminski, founder of Bonnefield.

Private equity and fund managers name South America a top place to buy, lease and manage agricultural lands for profit.

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