BRICS states, except Russia, are enhancing and facilitating land grabs abroad in a way that is inconsistent with their proclamations of sustainable development, cooperation solidarity, and respect of national sovereignty.
A slew of countries and investors — from Chinese state corporations to Gulf sheiks to Wall Street firms — have started buying up farmland overseas, in an apparent attempt to acquire as much precious soil and water as possible.
- Washington Post
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26 January 2013
Cartogram of land grabs led by foreign investors after 2006
- Peter Giovanni
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15 September 2012
Jusqu’à maintenant, les efforts déployés pour réglementer les accaparements de terres étaient le fait des institutions internationales. Maintenant, le secteur privé s’engage à définir ses propres règles du jeu.
Disclosure is the only option. To deny that products have their origins in land leased or purchased under dubious circumstances will only push discerning consumers away. The “fair use” or “land grab free” labels could find their way on food and other products in the coming decade.
- Triple Pundit
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28 August 2012
From the World Bank to pension funds, efforts are under way to regulate land grabs through the creation of codes and standards. Rather than help financial and corporate elites to "responsibly invest" in farmland, we need them to stop and divest.
Given the power imbalances at play, it is folly to assume that land-seekers will suddenly embrace, en masse, a set of voluntary rules promoting sustainable and equitable investor practices, says Michael Kugelman
- Sustainable Security
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02 August 2012
A global food crisis and rapid population growth are making farmland an increasingly attractive investment. Holly Black looks at the options.
Dalla Al Baraka, a Saudi conglomerate with $5 billion in annual revenue, has acquired two million acres of farmland in eastern Sudan to produce food for export to the Middle Eastern kingdom. While the investors are hoping to wean Saudi Arabia off imports from South America, such agreements cause concern among local Sudanese farmers.
The following report, by independent researcher Anna Bolin, explores the global trends and influences at work behind agriculture mega-projects like MIFEE in Papua.
- Down to Earth
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30 November 2011
The seizing of the poor farmers' land is destroying their only hope of survival on earth.
- Modern Ghana
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27 December 2010
Du point de vue de GRAIN, ce rapport très attendu de la Banque mondiale est à la fois une déception et un échec.
GRAIN says the World Bank's much anticipated report on the global farmland grab is both a disappointment and a failure.
MCC is playing a key role in commodifying Africa’s farmlands
Right now communities in Latin America, as around the world, are suffering a new kind of invasion of their territories
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
- Pambazuka
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07 January 2010
An internal document recently posted on IRRI's website reveals that the Institute has been advising Saudi Arabia in the context of its strategy to acquire farm land overseas for its own food production.
Africa’s agrarian questions are not adequately addressed by simply asking, “What is the role of African smallholders?”
Contrary to past trends, countries in the Global South are initiating much of the investment.
- Foreign Policy in Focus
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18 June 2009
Malaysia's biggest company Sime Darby has struck a deal with the Liberian government to develop oil palm and rubber estates in West African nation as land runs out at home and global demand for palm oil surges.
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.
- Pambazuka
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11 December 2008