Los Grobo plans to expand its cultivation in Brazil to 90,000 hectares in the 2012/13 crop year from 60,000 hectares today.

SLC Agricola, the Brazil farm operator with large ambitions in farmland acquisition, sealed a $239m cash injection from UK fund manager Valiance Asset Management for a business aimed at turning scrub into "high-quality" farms.

Tanzania has been advised to reduce land lease agreement to investors to below 50 years from the current 99.

A pension fund(!) has seeded(!) a new company (i.e., not a fund!) that will invest its own assets as well as those of peers(!) in actual farms(!) in the developed and developing world!

Investment advisors point to current rise in wheat prices as one more reason to invest in farmland...

The Financial Times reported this week that TIAA-CREF is developing a new “investment vehicle” that will bet the retirement funds of millions of American on the rising price of farmland around the world.

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

Commodities group Louis Dreyfus has agreed to take a minority stake in Malaysian palm oil firm Felda.

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

Two international organisations, Oxfam and Uganda Land Alliance (ULA), face de-registration for what government calls inciting violence over land issues.

Vulpes Investment Management, the Singapore company set up by hedge-fund manager Stephen Diggle, plans to raise as much as $150 million to invest in farms in Africa and Eastern Europe.

A new report from the Oakland Institute examines a controversial land investment deal in Sierra Leone. Pambazuka News caught up with its Policy Director to find out why the report has attracted so much attention.

With the purchase of nearly 15,000ha of land in Jerramungup last month, the Qatar-based Hassad Food Company now owns 250,000ha of farmland in Austalia

Last week, the Land Matrix "land grab" database was released. On paper, they have a strong methodology and strict criteria about projects to be included. In practice, they seem to violate their own rules, at least when it comes to Chinese "projects" in Africa.

Liberal MP backs calls from farming groups nationwide to tighten government regulations that scrutinise potential sales of Australian farmland and water assets to foreign investors and increase transparency.

Investment managers meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in New York said rising US farmland prices were making it harder to find quality land and high returns, and a lot of capital flow is moving to developing nations.

Senator believes a revision of foreign investment rules must adequately consider the changing nature of national sovereignty, in the face of a mounting global food security task.

Food shortages and rural deprivation exacerbated by World Bank policy, says NGO ahead of land and poverty conference

Leading environmental campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth International and La Via Campesina have released two videos showing how projects financed by World Bank funds have allegedly led to African land grabs.

Responding to strong demand, asset management firm Land Commodities has plans to launch its first retail farmland fund. The company says it receives around 10 to 20 enquiries from private investors each week.

A policy paper will next week be presented to the annual World Bank conference on land and poverty in Washington DC in the United States, which focuses on the confrontation between peasant producers and investors in the Mozambican province of Zambezia.

Two key areas requiring urgent attention are global agricultural norms and financialization.

Farmers and activists are increasing pressure on the government to be more transparent about large-scale land deals with foreign firms and to make sure local communities benefit

Saudi businessman Saleh Kamel announced last week that the Sudanese government agreed to give his country two million acres [809 371 hectares] of farmland for a project that will allow the Arab Gulf state to ensure a steady food supply.

Chayton already produces 10% of Zambia's soya and 5% of the country's wheat. Over the next 12 months, production will increase to at least 35% and 15% respectively.

The EBRD makes a US$45 million equity investment in KazExportAstyk, which controls 1m hectares of agricultural land in Kazakhstan – an area about the size of Denmark.

Largest cut flower exporter Karuturi Global ventures into food business

Egypt’s Citadel Capital has been busy defending its work in Africa, such as in South Sudan where it has taken a number of measures to ensure its agribusiness project benefits the local community and doesn’t step on small farmer toes.

The Australian Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce is pushing for even tougher restrictions on foreign ownership of farmland and agribusinesses than those advocated by his party, fuelling Liberal anger at Tony Abbott's failure to rein in National Party ''freelancing'' on sensitive economic issues.

Australian farmers have demanded an overhaul of foreign investment rules ahead of any attempt to harness Asian capital to boost the nation's food production.