Agricultural analyst at Citi Investment Research, Tim Mitchell, recently calculated that "rural raiders" from overseas had spent "well in excess of $12 billion" over the past four years on Australian agribusinesses and farms.

Two issues are bound to feature in New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser's talks in Beijing next week: New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra’s market power in the China domestic market and Chinese investment intentions within New Zealand.

Within agriculture, conflicts revolve around land and water sources ownership and use. The case of Karatu Kiru valley sugarcane farming where one of the investors was killed by local community on May 31, 2011 serves as an illustration

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) held a meeting of parliamentarians from across the continent last week to discuss an appropriate African response to resource grabs

Chunks of land that are being targeted for Kilimo Kwanza belong to rural-based small producers who are likely to lose it to large-scale investors as pillar number five of the programme advocates for amendments of the Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 to facilitate acquisition of land for large scale investment.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests must provide a clear framework for the protection of all people against land grabbing.

Corporate Chinese interest in Australian rural land assets is gaining momentum and there are several players on the hunt across a wide spectrum of ­sectors: sugarcane, cotton, wool, tomatoes and grapes for wine.

Overseas buyers may boost investment in agriculture assets in Australia, the fourth-biggest shipper of wheat, as they seek to secure supply to meet surging food demand, said Queensland Sugar Ltd. Chairman Alan Winney.

Asian investors have overtaken Europeans as the biggest buyers of Australian land, a snapshot of foreign acquisitions reveals.

Australia's left-leaning Greens party on Friday called for foreign investment laws to be beefed up to cover farming land and water licenses, fearing too much was falling into overseas hands.

Politicians throughout the Parliament united this week to raise concerns about the level of foreign investment throughout Australia.

The buy-up of prime agricultural land by Shenhua has sparked a furious political debate in Australia

Some pension funds are beginning to question their investments in commodities after accusations that massive flows into the sector have distorted markets, fuelled food inflation and hurt poor nations.

Last week, China's largest farming company, Heilongjiang Beidahuang Nongken Group, inked a joint venture with Argentina's Cresud SA to buy land and farm soybeans.

Government-backed companies, as Hassad Food, have begun buying up farmland around the world, with Australia’s vast tracts of top quality primary production land a prime target.

A new report published this week claims farmers in Africa are being driven off their traditional lands to make way for vast new industrial farming projects backed by European hedge funds seeking profits and foreign countries looking for cheap food.

Protestors have been demonstrating in Geneva against the growth in investments in agriculture that they say endangers food security in many developing countries.

Both companies are active farmland investors, with Citadel controlling a reported 200,000 hectares in Sudan and operating Egypt's largest dairy farm.

"The world is running out of farm land quite rapidly and farm land is going to be a very, very precious commodity in time to come. ... Australians are pretty dozy and comfortable on this issue," says Julian Cribb.

Land is a powerful commodity that should be used for the betterment of humanity through farming and ecology.

New Zealanders could not afford to be "totally xenophobic" towards Chinese investment because it has brought jobs and capital into the country, Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

Last week, bids closed for an 83% stake in Fonterra's biggest supplier, Dairy Holdings, which oversees 72 South Island farms. Bidders reportedly include Chinese dairy giant Bright Dairy, a pastoral fund owned by Australian investment bank Macquarie Group, British private equity firm Terra Firma. US private equity firm Carlyle Group and the Harvard Endowment Fund.

If the early reports are anything to go by, the Bangladeshi deals already incorporate many elements that suggest they are being done in a way likely to engender fierce resentment and opposition in the African countries concerned.

The world’s second-oldest profession–farming–is a hot investment

So many Wall Street-types crammed the Waldorf Astoria in New York City last week for a global farmland and agribusiness conference that hosts warned the crowd of 600 not to block the fire exits.

Increasing industrial production of oil palm in sub-Saharan African countries, carried out by foreign corporations, is destroying the livelihoods of thousands of Africans and the biodiversity of ecosystems.

Other countries believe their agricultural expertise can kickstart an agrarian revolution across the African continent

A new report from the Samsung chaebol advocates a Korean domestic and international food revolution

More than 50 percent of land concessions granted for investment projects result in detrimental affects to Laos, according to an expert from the National Land Management Authority

Moise Katumbi, governor of mineral-rich Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has offered 14 million hectares of farmland to large-scale farmers to boost agriculture.