In three years, 15,000ha will be covered with a sugarcane plantation in Gambela Province.

No deal was ever secured with Qatar, and China is now being eyed as a more appropriate suitor for the project.

African officials have called for greater equity and fairness in trade with the GCC countries that use agricultural land in Africa to feed their populations while famines continue to ravage the continent.

Alarmed by exporting countries’ trade restrictions, importing countries have realised that their dependence on the international food market makes them vulnerable not only to an abrupt surge in prices but, more crucially, to an interruption in supplies.

African states have actively encouraged Gulf investors into areas like agriculture, seeing them as a useful counterweight to China’s influence.

Planning these investments was carried out according to the following agricultural investment principles and criteria...

We are witnessing a second scramble for Africa and other poor countries by rich nations and agribusinesses to acquire land for agricultural and biofuel purposes.

A popular movement centred on a small farming village in northern Mozambique has, for the moment, halted an attempt to move to cash-crop monocultures mainly for export.

MCC is playing a key role in commodifying Africa’s farmlands

More important is for Africa to realise its own potential for food production, which would in the long-term negate the need for these deals.

Africa is white hot with minerals and land deals in what could be the second scramble for Africa.

Participants at a 2-day High-Level Forum on Foreign Direct Investments in Land in Africa have resolved to promote land-based investment models that increase agricultural productivity and maximize opportunities for Africa’s farmers.

MMTC, Iffco and Bharti are the latest to find the continent’s land and labour attractive for their agribusiness.

So is it a land grab or a development opportunity? Is land grabbing actually good for Africa? BBC Africa Debate discusses the issue in Freetown in Sierra Leone.

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.

The European Union is coercing some West African governments into allowing European-based fishing companies to deplete West Africa’s fishing stocks in a new "food colonialism" that is now taking place between rich and poor countries around the world, according to British author George Monbiot.

Governments in the global south are claiming farmland is 'empty' and 'unused' – and flogging it off to foreigners who promise investment. The June summit in Rio needs to call a halt to this.

Southeast Asian palm oil firms like Malaysia's Sime Darby and Singapore's Golden Agri Resources are backpacking to Africa, in what could be the planet’s next trend-setter in inter-continental resource trade.

"Our message is clear: it is not up to the G8 to set development strategies and programmes for Africa."

The following report, by independent researcher Anna Bolin, explores the global trends and influences at work behind agriculture mega-projects like MIFEE in Papua.

If there is “blood diamond”, there is also such a thing as “blood maize”, “blood soya” and “blood pulses”.

Legal battle launched after man claims he was evicted from his farm and beaten under villagisation scheme funded by UK aid

Interview with Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, chairman and managing director Karuturi Global Limited.

UNCTAD believes pension funds, with their apparent focus on reputation, accountability, and the long term, could set new best-practice standards as they join the farmland investment trend.

In the last few months, the process seems to be speeding up with more and more Indian farmers checking out investments in Africa.

After food costs spike, Saudis spent billions buying up farm land around the world. Who benefits exactly and can the spree continue?

The company has approached the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank to raise another $100 million for a sugarcane estate.

Sources close to Al-Amoudi said that the king has shown an interest in seeing other Saudi companies involved in rice farming after seeing the samples presented by Al-Amoudi

Foreigners mostly seek agricultural land and land for tourism developments, but all foreigner-owned land in Africa holds the potential to prompt violence from displaced people.

A controversial foreign investment to produce agrofuels for Europe on 20,000 ha in Senegal has angered communities and sparked violent clashes between peasants and the police.