Aminata Massaquoi of the Informal Alliance Against Industrial Oil Palm Plantations in Africa speaks about the struggles of women in Sierra Leone opposed to the oil palm plantations of Socfin and other companies.

For investors like Susan Payne, the chief executive of Emergent Asset Management, farmland in sub-Saharan Africa is a hot bet.

Unfortunately, the US Senate inquiry into Goldman Sach's alleged malfeasance is unlikely to question why the company in 2008 decided to acquire ten intensive poultry farms in China's Hunan and Fujian provinces for $300 million.

The much-discussed Congo land-lease, granting 200,000 hectares to South African farmers with a further 10 million hectares in the balance, appears to mark a departure from the usual terms underpinning foreign acquisition of fertile land by multinationals

The Congo ventures are not core businesses to be based in the Congo but instead, extensions of businesses located in South Africa

US government cable discusses 24 January 2010 meeting organised by Swiss Development Corporation, UN Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Investment on "Land, Investment, and Development," attended by many of the key players working on responsible international agro-industrial and land investment principles

Stephen Marks looks at the latest rush by China and countries in the middle east to sign lease agreements in poor countries for agricultural production, and what this trend means in terms of food security and access to arable land for local populations.

Ethiopia's potential can be maximized only if we Ethiopians are the producers and sellers of our own agricultural products. What Meles Zenawi is doing now is putting this upside down. He made our potential buyers the sellers of our commodity.

Evidence suggests a marked disparity in the benefits received by those involved in and affected by these transnational land acquisitions, particularly for those originally dwelling on the land.

New podcast, in English, featuring Ardo Sow from the Collectif pour la Défense du Ndiaël

Gulf nations now are quietly scouring the globe for rich farmland to rent or buy outright.

The Ethiopian government’s ambitious target of harvesting 28 million tonnes of cereals in the first three quarters of the 2007/2008 budget year has failed. Authorities seem determined to change this situation by leasing huge chunks of land to other sovereign states for mechanised farming.

THESE days, as we follow the struggle against the Taliban in the northwest, we can be forgiven for missing other important news. For instance, I had filed away a report on plans to lease large chunks of agricultural land in Punjab and Sindh to overseas investors in the back of my mind, planning to write about it later. When I ran a Google search on the subject, however, I realised the enormity of the scam.When I ran a Google search

If Indonesia decides to go ahead with leasing farmland, it should do so with caution, keeping an eye on both the risks and the opportunities. We need to understand that we have a very strong bargaining position.

Many of the areas from which people are being moved are slated for leasing by the Ethiopian government for commercial agricultural development, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.