Investment bank Macquarie Group is buying two farms in Australia's "wheatbelt" bringing its total holdings in Western Australia to 45,000 ha.

Face aux difficultés enregistrées en Afrique, les pays du Golfe réorientent leur stratégie d’investissement agricole vers des territoires moins risqués, notamment les États-Unis et l'Europe de l'Est.

The desert states of the Gulf are changing tack in their multi-billion dollar search for food security.

In four years, Hassad Foods has accumulated 255,000 hectares of agricultural land with the aim of producing 165,000 tonnes of grain and 100,000 lambs annually.

Le Qatar compte bien faire de sa faiblesse sur le plan agricole, un atout d'influence sur la scène mondiale.

D'ici à 2030, le petit émirat souhaite ne plus dépendre des autres Etats pour nourrir sa population. Réaliste ou utopique?

Hassad Food Co., the agricultural investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest $500 million in India after buying Bush Foods Overseas Ltd.

Hassad Australia chief executive Tom McKeon said the company employed people from local communities, supported local businesses and paid tax. The company owns 11 farms over 250,000ha in Australia, including three in WA.

Hassad Food Co, the agricultural investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has bought a majority stake in an Indian basmati rice company for more than $100m, it was reported on Wednesday.

Qatar has plans to expand its food security options in Pakistan and the state-owned corporation, Hassad Food, has opened an office in Lahore, Pakistan’s ambassador Mohamed Sarfraz A Khanzada told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.

A Qatari Government-owned company is buying up prime agricultural land in South Australia at well above market rates and is forcing farmers to sign confidentiality agreements.

Wealthy Gulf Arab companies are boosting their investment in Africa's vast lands and untapped resources, marking a shift for investors who have traditionally directed their money towards assets in the United States and Europe.

Ce recentrage sur la production locale ne signifie pas que le Qatar abandonne sa politique d'acquisition de terres à l'étranger.

“When things are mortgaged up to the hilt and the banks are involved then it’s either bank ownership or foreign ownership,” says South Australian sheep farmer Brian Wilson

Que la agricultura industrial está detrás del uso intensivo del agua es una realidad no suficientemente conocida ni denunciada, sobretodo cuando sabemos que usa más agua de ríos, lagos y acuíferos que la que reponen las lluvias o las nieves.

Egypt's Prime Minister received Sheikh Nasser bin Mohamed Al Hageri, the head of the Qatari Hassad Foodstuff Company who is currently visiting Egypt to explore agricultural investments.

Mawashi, Qatar’s livestock company, plans to invest in industrial agriculture and food sources outside Qatar to serve the vision and objectives of the Qatar National Food Security Programme, it was announced yesterday.

Politicians and economists say that the Australian public is only worked up about foreign ownership of agricultural land because the community is misinformed. This drives the belief that a register of foreign land holdings will calm everyone's anxiety. Given that Queensland has had such a register for 20 years, and that disquiet about foreign ownership still resonates among Queenslanders, this means that something else is at play.

We are interested in the opportunity of farming in Nigeria and we are happy that the government is facilitating that process," says Hassad Food Operations and Asset Management executive director Andrew Goodman.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, with an estimated $100 billion in assets, expects to start exports of grains and wool from Australia as it nears completion of a $486 million farm investment plan

Hassad Food Co, the agricultural investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, may invest 500m euros this year to increase food supplies for the desert emirate, the company’s chairman said.

Corporate Agriculture Australia managing director Gordon Verrall believes WA farmers have nothing to worry about in regards to foreign investment.

Hassad Foods' farmland purchases in Australia are guided by a risk minimising strategy. The lands are distributed across different climes and water regimes over a wide geographic area.

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

La Declaración de la Conferencia Especial para la Soberanía Alimentaria realizada en Buenos Aires cuestiona la posición adoptada por la FAO en relación al acaparamiento de tierras en América Latina.

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 business council wants Qatar to invest more in food production in Australia, similar to what Qatar's Hassad Foods is pursuing.

Foreign companies from Korea, Qatar, US, UK and China are "secretly" buying up large chunks of NSW farmland by establishing shelf companies, trust funds, and extended settlements to avoid scrutiny.

While interest in Australian agricultural land is coming from all quarters, it is the prospect of sovereign investment to shore up a nation's food security that is attracting the most attention.

Qatar has been investing in large areas of farmland overseas to ensure access to food supplies, but it also aims to produce most of its food domestically by spending massively to boost crop yields and convert semi-desert into agricultural land.