Almost 70% of all concluded and planned Saudi investments in offshore agriculture are in Africa, according to a new report from Standard Bank

Joint statement released by more than 60 civil society organisations against the role of pension funds and other financial instutions in land grabbing

Not everyone is thrilled about the new breed of investors making a pure financial play on farmland in the US

Trading as Kimberley Agricultural Investments, it's understood that a Chinese investment group is interested in developing a major sugar industry in the region, as well as a meatworks capable of processing 500,000 head of cattle a year.

The government is in the final stages of introducing a Land Authority whose duties, among others, will include dealing with land investments as well as establishment of a land bank and database.

"Investing in Farmland and Feeding the World," was discussed at an interactive session at the 65th CFA Institute Annual Conference in Chicago last week.

In this extract from his book The Landgrabbers: The New Fight Over Who Owns the Earth, Fred Pearce witnesses the relentless plundering by intensive commercial farmers of Brazil’s rich savannah

After three years of discussions, the UN has agreed a document meant to protect local populations against land grabbing.

Warren Buffett said yesterday that over the next 100 years, farmland will beat gold, which surged to a record in 2011 after increasing more than sixfold in the past decade.

The overall objective of this report is to identify potential interventions to enhance the capacity of newly created private equity funds in agriculture and/or agribusiness in Africa, especially the stimulation of technical assistance to agricultural value chains.

Claims of Chinese "land grabs" in Africa, to grow food for importing, have been overstated – for now - although "this could be a longer term motivation", Standard Chartered said.

Company looks to tide over land-grabbing allegations, devastating flood for its $300mn project in Ethiopia.

In Uganda it is the top leadership that initiates the land grabs for global land thieves. Whole communities are being displaced and scattered.

The Pakistan government should table a bill in the parliament before proposing further selling of agricultural lands in order to have a legitimate regulatory mechanism in place, says economist.

"The CFS is expected to adopt the VGs in May. Then for part two: laws with an enforcement mechanism. National laws, because that is where it really counts. And multilateral rules, too, to discipline foreign investors," write IATP.

Two MIDROC-affiliated companies, largely owned by the Saudi tycoon Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi, are Saudi Star Agricultural Plc and Horizon Plantations Plc. Both offered tens of millions of Birr to acquire state-owned plantations last week.

Afrifresh Group, a South African agriculture group, is set to acquire a controlling stake in Ariston Holdings, as Emvest pulls out.

Kwara State Governor Ahmed has signed and MOU with Vasolar Consortium of Spain for the cultivation, processing and packaging of rice, with the state providing 20,000 ha of land.

Standard Chartered Bank’s Private Equity division has invested $74 million to acquire a minority stake in ETC Group Mauritius, one of the largest owners of African farmland.

No evidence to support the idea that “China” was intending to create an agricultural colony in Mozambique, or make the Zambezi Valley into China’s rice bowl.

Rich soil, a tropical climate, and an abundance of water: the region of Gambela in the west of the country is fertile. Foreign investors are renting thousands of hectares of it to develop intensive agriculture without regard for the environment and the population, reports Le Monde.

Land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history.

Article details the diversity of outcomes and arrangements falling under the blanket term ‘land grab,’ examining transfers of ownership and control of land and the implications of political processes as reflected in land policy

The people of Iowa — not to mention the refugees of Katumba, Tanzania — deserve an honest explanation for Iowa State University’s part in the AgriSol deal, and not just shameless denials.

Oakland Institute speaks about the findings of their latest round of in-depth research into land grabs in Africa.

Report from FIAN on the international conference against land grabbing which took place in Mali in November 2011

Company now manages farms on 3.6 million hectares and believes that, overall, US$25 billion of institutional capital has gone into the acquisition of farms.

The following report, by independent researcher Anna Bolin, explores the global trends and influences at work behind agriculture mega-projects like MIFEE in Papua.

In the past three days, peasants, pastoralists and indigenous peoples have come together from across the world for the first time to share with each other their experiences and struggles against land-grabbing.

China will increasingly look to Africa over the next decade as the world's most populous nation seeks to ensure it has sufficient food supplies, according to a study published Wednesday.