Global food supply concerns have revived fears of foreigners seeking to do farming in Thailand. Some farmers worry they could end up being little more than serfs.

Backed by their governments and bankrolled with huge trade and investment profits and budget surpluses, the newly emerging neo-colonial economic powers are seizing control of vast tracts of fertile lands from poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, through the intermediation of local corrupt, free-market regimes.

"We support continued efforts to develop principles for investment in the agricultural sector undertaken by the World Bank, regional development banks, FAO, UNCTAD, and IFAD," say G8 heads of state.

Forest clearance in the Congo basin from oil palm plantations and illegal logging has increased again since 2010 and the future is not rosy.

Civil society, including African farmers unions, need to educate local people that such land deals are not in their interests, however couched in 'win-win' terminology they appear to be.

Controversial hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey invested more than US$170m into one of Brazil’s most damaging agribusinesses despite it deforesting large areas and receiving numerous environmental fines

The government has not disclosed how much peatland has been razed so far for its Food Estate project but groups say more land, including peat swamps, is set to be cleared in Central Kalimantan, Sumatra and Papua.

"We appreciate the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment elaborated by the World Bank, FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD, support the ongoing extensive consultations on these principles, and welcomed the approval of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests."

Ama Biney escribe para Pambazuka News sobre la nueva avalancha de acaparamientos de tierras en África por parte de gobiernos extranjeros e inversores privados, movidos por el temor a una escasez mundial de alimentos provocada por el cambio climático y a una volatilidad en los precios de éstos en el mercado internacional

Only the Amazon and Congo basins rival Papua New Guinea for pristine tropical wilderness. But 5 million hectares of its jungle is under threat from foreign land grabs and back-door logging.

Reading between the lines, the Durban BRICS resolutions will support favoured corporations' extraction and land-grab strategies and confirm the financing of both African land-grabbing and the extension of neo-colonial infrastructure through a new 'BRICS Bank'

Tajikistan leased around 18,000 hectares of its land to China for cotton, rice, grain, and corn cultivation for a 49-year contract. The agreement was part of a broader initiative to strengthen economic ties between the two countries.

Study reveals that over 50 million hectares are currently assigned in land deals or under negotiation in 27 African host countries – an area equivalent to France.

For too long, consumer brands have sourced raw materials from abusive companies. We’ve seen up close the damage this has caused in Cambodia, and how elusive remedy has been for affected communities. But with mandatory due diligence laws on the horizon in Europe, communities will finally have the opportunity to hold brands accountable for violations in their supply chains.

Covering two percent of the world's agricultural land, more than 1,000 territorial transfer deals signed since 2000 have become a fact of life for governments, investors and campaigners, transforming the geopolitical landscape.

Review of concessions and conflict in eight emerging and frontier markets finds more than 93% of mining, oil & gas, logging, and agriculture developments involve inhabited land.

Land investments displace rural populations, often without any notice, and diminish their access to land, jobs, and food.

These land acquisitions have the potential to inject much-needed investment into agriculture and rural areas in poor developing countries, but they also raise concerns about the impacts on poor local people, who risk losing access to and control over land on which they depend.

Chinese foreigners are forcing farmers in southwest Madagascar to sell their land for a mere 7 ariary (less than US $0.01) per square meter.

Entities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are directing large commitments to the farmland space, Investable Universe reports.

State-owned food giant COFCO Corp is likely to pursue more overseas acquisitions of sugar companies, its Chairman Ning Gaoning said on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress in Beijing Thursday.

Le gouvernement du Mozambique est en train de concéder l'usage de 6 millions d'hectares de terres, soit l'équivalent des deux tiers de la superficie du Portugal, afin que de grands exploitants agricoles brésiliens cultivent du soja, du coton et du maïs dans le nord de ce pays africain

Both private and public sector investors from countries such as Qatar, Libya, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Arab world as well as China and Korea elsewhere now hold long term rights to a total of two million feddans of arable land in Sudan, according to figures from the country’s agriculture ministry.

There were dramatic scenes outside Phnom Penh court this week as one of Cambodia’s most iconic activists, Tep Vanny lost an appeal to overturn her two and a half year jail sentence.

"Future agriculture hectares for Saudi Arabia will be outside of the country," says president of agricultural services company ARASCO.

The distinctive feature of these land deals that has attracted attention is the speed of the acquisitions, the transparency (lack thereof) of the terms and the scale of the acquisitions and implied investment.

Conversation with Maria Antonelli about the main drivers and implications of land transactions around the world, with a particular focus both on the role of EU.

Over the past couple of decades, China has embraced trade agreements that oblige it to import foods and implemented policies that favour the development of larger farms and massive agribusiness and food corporations.

India is one of Africa’s biggest investors in agricultural land.

This paper examines the incidence of large-scale purchase of agricultural land in Africa by Indian investors.