The scariest aspect of this unfolding phenomenon is that despite the foreseeable terrible consequences, the appetite among the rich countries to own a piece of this developing-country fertile land continues to grow, turning to an ugly competition.

Debates around farmland acquisition have focused mostly on how the phenomenon is playing out in the Global South. Much less attention has been paid to large-scale acquisitions of farmland in wealthier countries like Canada.

New data set documens 416 recent, large-scale land grabs by foreign investors for the production of food crops, covering nearly 35 million hectares of land in 66 countries.

A new report by Greenomics Indonesia documents how the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate threatens peatland and forest in Papua province, Indonesia.

Jose Minaya of TIAA-CREF talks about growing investor interest in farmland and the role of farmland in the pension fund's investment strategy.

The £9bn Pension Protection Fund is set to add specialist farmland and timberland fund managers to its investment manager panel to assist its alternative investment programme.

Canada could soon get its first exchange-traded farmland management stock.

Aucun aménagement à la marge de ces politiques ne saurait contenir la rapacité des investisseurs, publics ou privés : c’est la logique néolibérale qui les sous-tend qu’il faut combattre, au moyen de mobilisations populaires

Foreign investors have spent a record $12 billion buying up Australian farmland and agricultural businesses over the past year, but have put off investing a further $14 billion until the outcome of a Senate inquiry in March 2012, a new report by Ferrier Hodgson says.

Tony Hales, managing director of Stadia Trustees, puts forward the case for including farmland in clients’ self-invested personal pensions (UK)

Right now, on the desks of Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) there is the background material for an application of credit guarantee for an 8000 ha sugar plantation and a refinery in Bagamoyo, Tanzania.

"The whole mess in Europe at the moment has increased demand for diversification products for the Asian markets," says Aquila CEO Roman Rosslenbroich, including farmland.

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

In the acceptance speech for the 2011 ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, GRAIN demands an immediate end to land grabbing and a restitution of lands to local communities.

De investeringen van pensioenfonds ABP in Mozambique hebben de afgelopen jaren bijgedragen aan het afpakken van boerenland en het bedreigen van de voedselzekerheid van de lokale bevolking.

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.

It’s obvious that pension funds and other big-money managers are ‘getting’ the agri-land investment story.

PensionDanmark har investeret over en halv milliard i afrikansk landsbrugsjord. Pensionsselsskabet forudser, at Afrika bliver den næste store vækstregion.

Corporate agriculture is not about food production or satisfying the needs of the undernourished or downright starving but about producing profit. How long can it be before its limits are reached?

Pension funds and other corporate owners have spent only a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars they could invest in farmland, but they are definitely kicking the tires on potential purchases.

There is a lot of focus on the growing global population and what it means for food demand. One result sees investors taking notice of returns on resources that provide food, including farmland.

Report by HighQuest Partners for the OECD, October 2011, features 6 case studies of land grabbers: Agrica, CalyxAgro, Cazanae, Jantzen, NFD Agro and Quifel

Roger Ferguson, chief executive of TIAA-CREF, says his firm is increasingly acquiring farmland in the US, Eastern Europe, Australia and Brazil as long term investments.

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.

In Brazil, government surveys found foreigners owned 10% of the nation's cultivated land. Much of that was funds with international backing in London or New York.

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

Unfortunately, given the global nature of capital, even if the US were to completely shut down speculation, it would just move offshore.

Farmland is an increasingly attractive investment for pension funds, but some have held back from buying due to ethical and environmental concerns, and a fear of negative public perception.

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