The arrangement will provide a government-to-government framework to encourage commercial partnerships between New Zealand and Ethiopian agricultural interests.

The state government has recently acquired land in Shongai, Benin Republic as part of effort to increase arable farmlands beyond the state’s boundaries for food production.

Al Dahra Agriculture, a private-sector partner of the UAE Government in securing key food staples, is targeting investments in coffee and sugar plantations in Brazil, Colombia and Chile, said the company's vice chairman.

As well as plans to build silos to store key commodities, the Government's approach includes partnering private sector players such as Al Dahra Agriculture to secure overseas land.

Global rules for investment in agriculture need to be overhauled, Sultan Al Mansouri, the UAE Minister of Economy, said yesterday, as signs emerge of rising barriers to the flow of investment around the world.

A 20,000 ha tranche of Serbian farmland bought by an Abu Dhabi firm should be providing a substantial amount of the UAE's food within the next five years.

Sudan is urging the UAE to begin developing the vast expanses of farmland it has acquired in the country, as the north loses the majority of its oil revenues following the independence of South Sudan.

Company's chief operating officer expected to return next month to look at agriculture investments.

With nations such as China eyeing property all over the world, and with worries over food security growing, Brazil is discussing tightening laws that would make it harder for foreigners to purchase land.

Dubai business leaders have urged the Government to snap up farmland overseas to grow basic staples as a buffer against soaring food prices.

Food security is back on the agenda with a bang, but while countries with money but little land want to invest elsewhere, few efforts are as emotive as a global "land grab".

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

Abu Dhabi acquired 30,000 ha of Sudanese farmland last June through the ADFD to grow alfalfa, a crop used to feed cattle.

Not since Belgium's King Leopold turned the Congo into his personal market-garden has so much land been allocated to offshore nations.

Gulf nations need to step up investments in African and South East Asian farmland if the region is to play its part in averting a global food crisis, agriculture experts say.

Abu Dhabi's Jenaan Investment owns and leases properties in Egypt and Sudan, as well as leasing land in Tanzania, Ethiopia and the US.

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.

Between 2007 and mid-2008, Gulf states and their government-backed businesses spent US$15 billion (Dh55bn) in sub-Saharan Africa alone, much of it in the drive for food security

Prof Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, thinks Arab states should shore up their food security as global warming places stress on the world's agricultural resources. But he is not thinking of recent government initiatives to buy fertile farmland in other countries.

Companies from the kingdom are meeting with representatives of the state of Western Australia to discuss buying equity in farms and investing in the wheat supply chain.

The UAE is looking to Azerbaijan to increase its food security as the two countries signed an agreement that helps pave the way for co-operation in both farming and industry.

What do the Berlin Wall and the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) have in common?

Qatar has embarked on a food-security programme to make it more self-sufficient and help the communities around its farmland projects in developing countries.

Why produce a low-value crop such as wheat using expensive water when the FAO says the global wheat harvest will this year be second only to last year’s record?

As the issue of global food security was being discussed yesterday in Rome by world leaders, a senior UN official here highlighted the need for GCC countries to address their dependence on food imports.

While food security may be the aim of land acquisitions for many Gulf investors, KCIC sees Asian agribusiness purely from a commercial standpoint.

Bangkok was wary of GCC efforts to ensure its food supplies by purchasing rice growing lands, and now political instability is chilling the investment climate. Tom Spender reports

What started as a government drive to secure cheap food resource has now become a viable business model and many Gulf companies are venturing into agricultural investments to diversify their portfolios.

Gulf investors may be forced to reconsider plans to acquire agricultural land in Thailand following moves there that could curb foreign investment in the sector.

A private agricultural investment firm in Abu Dhabi plans a Dh925 million (US$251.8m) farmland deal in Egypt to grow wheat for the African nation’s domestic market.