Exploring the fundamental data flaws in the Land Matrix dataset

The governments in the Gulf region are investing heavily in outside farmland acquisitions and leases besides injecting money into the domestic food production industry, according to an expert ahead of a major agriculture expo.

Iowa State University has landed in some hot water regarding its involvement with an international land development project in Tanzania.

In the past three days, peasants, pastoralists and indigenous peoples have come together from across the world for the first time to share with each other their experiences and struggles against land-grabbing.

The adoption by the UN Committee on World Food Security of international guidelines to regulate land grabs has been pushed to next year

Millions of hectares of farmland are being sold or leased to foreigners to the detriment of farmers

Les fonds de pension sont peut-être l’une des rares catégories d’accapareurs de terres auxquelles les gens peuvent couper l’herbe sous le pied, pour la bonne et simple raison que c’est de leur argent qu’il s’agit.

leading experts in Canadian farmland investment and agri-business investment will meet at the Canadian Farmland & Agri-Business Investment Seminar.

A new study into how virtual water moves around the world offers an explanation for the farmland leasing strategy, reports New Scientist

Translation of It's time to outlaw land grabbing, not to make it "responsible"! by Via Campesina

Tenter de pallier le manque de légitimité de ces acquisitions foncières en faisant adhérer les investisseurs à quelques principes n’est qu’une vaste supercherie.

There is a jobs cow waiting to be milked in Africa. It is agriculture and agri-business, says World Bank VP of Africa Region

One of the problems with so-called ‘land grabs’ is secrecy. Most of the contracts that seal such deals are hidden from public scrutiny, which makes it very hard to establish what is really going on.

Modern machineries of all sorts, owned and run by agri-companies, are turning the soils inside out, destroying forests and beginning to pollute the environment to get more production.

The seizing of the poor farmers' land is destroying their only hope of survival on earth.

The government will act as a facilitator for private industry to buy land abroad to grow pulses, says India's Agriculture Minister.

New report by GRAIN shows how Saudi businessmen are pursuing deals in Africa that would give them control over some of the continent's most productive farmlands.

Government has taken action to resolve lingering speculation and strengthen transparency surrounding the degree of foreign ownership in Australian agriculture.

Australia's center-left Labor government said Tuesday it will examine foreign ownership of the country's rural land and agricultural food production in response to a spate of takeovers that have triggered anxiety about job losses and broader concerns about food security.

Mr Verghese says that Olam sees "sustainable value" in investing in agriculture, including farmland, and that GM crops are an inevitable "must".

As large-scale investors' interest in acquiring vast swathes of land for commercial agriculture in Africa intensifies, farmers believe the time is ripe for the government to press investors to allocate shares to villagers as a corporate social responsibility.

Foreign interests including state-owned companies from China and the Middle East are increasingly looking to Australia to secure their food production by purchasing key agricultural assets.

While some North African countries are selling land, others struggling with dry climates are starting to buy land tracts overseas and in other African nations to feed their own growing populations.

According to IIED, for more inclusive land agreements to work, companies need to embrace them as a genuine economic component of their business, and not just as part of a corporate responsibility programme.

A seminar in Zurich brought together development experts to put the issue into context and take a long term view.

Government of Singapore has set up a fund to support feasibility studies on investments in overseas food zones, overseas contract farming and other non-traditional sources of food security for the city-state.

"We need to employ some protectionist policies to save our continent from a new form of colonization"

The urgency among Gulf states to pursue farmland acquisitions has diminished as food prices have gone down and controversy has gone up. Still, Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead with its plans.

He confirmed that the Ministry received very wide offers of investment by Arab and foreign investors.

"This apparent rush to lease so much farmland, much or all of it to foreign interests, during a time of worsening food insecurity should raise concern within the donor community about GoE motivations and negotiating capacity," writes the US embassy in Addis Ababa in December 2009