The shameful story of how 1 million black families have been ripped from their farms. A war waged by deed of title has dispossessed 98 percent of black agricultural landowners in America.

Swedish pensions money is threatening the livelihoods of small farming communities in Brazil and risk speeding up the devastation of the rainforest.

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".

PSP Investments has been doubling down on capital commitments in Australia’s ag sector – and particularly in almonds and water recently.

According to data provider Preqin, there are 25 private equity funds targeting agriculture investments, with a total target of $1.1 billion.

Financial services group TIAA-CREF said it is partnering with Canadian and European money managers to form a $2 billion global farmland investing company to capitalize on the growing demand for grains and other agricultural products.

There is an increasing demand for nature-based solutions and real assets are of particular interest to institutional asset owners. But just because something is a natural investment does not always mean it is good for the environment. Or that it is a good investment.

World Bank and IMF policies have provided key support for the financialisation of food and agriculture, resulting in landgrabs, price volatility, the concentration of power and the expansion of climate-damaging industrial agriculture

According to asset managers, a window is emerging for institutional money to flow into agriculture due to change of ownership, notably in markets such as Australia and the US.

The Russian government has actively supported foreign investment in Siberian agriculture, making 1 million hectares of arable land in the Far Eastern Federal District available to foreign buyers

Cargill and Bunge among firms setting up funds to buy farms in Asia and South America.

As Europe's debt crisis rattles global equity market confidence farming is being increasingly championed by many as a sound, long-term bet for investors needing a safe haven for their money - particularly superannuation funds.

US-based Washington State Investment Board has committed another $A350 million to Queensland-based farm investor Laguna Bay Pastoral Company.

Continued economic uncertainties are prompting a back-to-the-land movement among investors. And a favored choice of land is farmland.

PKA has defended its investments in African agricultural land, denying they are ethically dubious or constitute "land grabbing".

Asset owners and managers are signing up to a series of principles on how they invest in agricultural land. Will this mollify critics of the land grab? Nick Lord reports.

Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) is buying into TIAA-CREF’s global farmland funds with a $456m investment.

Australia's cattle station sector is set to reach more than $1 billion-worth of deals in less than a year, with the two biggest sources of investment being the controversial areas of foreign investment and superannuation.

A slide show by GRAIN that profiles some of those who have been most actively pursuing or supporting farmland grabs around the world.

CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, today announced a US$20m investment in farming businesses in Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda

Allegations of illegal activity and land-grabbing against Indonesia’s second-largest palm oil company continue to mount as a new report reveals the firm’s violations appear to be more extensive than initially documented.

Alors que les efforts de la communauté pour récupérer 100 000 hectares de leurs terres ancestrales, initialement saisies il y a plus d'un siècle pour des plantations de palmiers à huile, sont confrontés à une répression violente, des arrestations illégales et des meurtres, un nouveau rapport de l'Oakland Institute dévoile les noms des investisseurs finançant les plantations en RDC.

NGOs from Korea and Indonesia file OECD complaint against POSCO International for causing palm oil abuses

TRSL has also expanded another of its separate accounts held with Hancock Agricultural Investment Group by $25 million, focusing on farmland in the US and Australia.

The BFB sale has raised concerns that even if local bidders are able to raise the cash required for these deals, they’re not able to compete with the vast resources and track records of international players.

One of the people most active in driving Chinese investment in Australian farmland, David Goodfellow, is switching camps to help build a $1 billion Canadian investment portfolio.

As the world’s population swells beyond seven billion and emerging markets’ appetite for food grows, Canadian institutions are getting increasingly hungry for agribusiness and farmland acquisitions abroad.

Hubert Fabri and Vincent Bolloré own plantations accused of land appropriation and labor abuses. Their company says it has taken steps to improve matters, but a trip to West Africa shows sexual coercion claims remain widespread.

Financial investors own tracts that grow maize and soya beans in Illinois and Uruguay, almonds and cattle in Australia, and sugar beets and wheat in Poland. Some are venturing into countries with potentially volatile politics, such as Ethiopia and Ukraine.

Teays River Investments, LLC, a big farmland and agribusiness investment company opted to sell two irrigated strawberry and vegetable cropland holdings, purchased just a few years ago, at a $650,000 loss.