"Africa will be more food insecure if these investments go to other parts of the world and Africa has to turn to those places to buy food," according to Dr Ousmane Badiane of IFPRI

African NGOs were not satisfied with the Rio +20 Summit. They were particularly disappointed that the land grabbing, which is the acquisition of arable land sometimes through dubious methods, was not discussed enough.

African nations like Zambia, Ethiopia and Mozambique invited Indian investors to invest in various sectors, especially in agriculture, saying this has the potential to provide food to both Africa and India.

Islamic Development Bank and Rabobank team up to launch fund that intends to invest 5-10% of its funds in global farmland.

Our conception of land-grabs and global discussions on the phenomenon are informed too much by contentious, large-scale land deals in Africa and too little by examples from other regions. This has led to many unfounded assumptions about the nature of land-grab.

"Ces terres octroyées sous prétexte de lutter contre l’insécurité alimentaire, sont exploitées par d’autres pays pour satisfaire leurs besoins en agro carburants et denrées alimentaires."

Between the farmers and Olam lies one of Lao’s most powerful, and some allege, corrupt families, the Siphandones.

Karuturi, which has 300,000 ha in Ethiopia, is now targeting the DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Sweden's SEK216bn (€24bn) buffer fund AP2 and TIAA-CREF have increased commitments to an agricultural property company launched last year to $2bn (€1.6bn), attracting interest from several Canadian investors.

Indigenous people in Cameroon claim a company is stealing communal land to build a palm oil plantation -- a dispute that could lead to conflict, hunger and human rights abuses.

Cent vingt-quatre pays ont adopté à Rome, vendredi, des règles de bonne gouvernance foncière pour l'achat et la location de terres à grande échelle. Un « premier pas » pour protéger les populations locales et défendre leurs droits fonciers.

In this extract from his book The Landgrabbers: The New Fight Over Who Owns the Earth, Fred Pearce witnesses the relentless plundering by intensive commercial farmers of Brazil’s rich savannah

Le comité de sécurité alimentaire mondiale de la FAO a adopté vendredi 11 mai un document visant à encadrer l'achat de terres à travers le monde.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top four countries on a massive investment spree to acquire agricultural resources.

Ukraine has long been called “the bread-basket of Europe,” and for one excellent reason: its fertile, black soil. The estimated value of this treasure is anywhere between 40 and 80 billion dollars. The only problem with investing in such an obviously profitable business was an artificial bureaucratic/legislative barrier commonly known as the “moratorium on alienation of farm land” (the “Moratorium”).

Land rights are essentially political issues; but where women’s land rights are concerned, the solutions take on a legal dimension.

Senator believes a revision of foreign investment rules must adequately consider the changing nature of national sovereignty, in the face of a mounting global food security task.

India’s Tata Group is interested to invest in east African farming in order to export agricultural products back to India, where it anticipates a local food supply shortage over the next decades.

Presentations by Antonio Tricarico of CRBM (financialisation of nature in general) and Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN (land grabbing as specific sector / example)

We hear from Liberia, where foreign investment is finally starting to flood in after years of civil war. Big international companies are arriving and taking over vast areas of the country - in a move some local farmers and activists describe as a land grab.

Two key areas requiring urgent attention are global agricultural norms and financialization.

Depuis quelques années et plus particulièrement depuis la crise financière de 2008, l’accaparement des terres agricoles dans le monde s’est amplifié au point de devenir une calamité pour bien des communautés paysannes.

Du 29 mars au 1er avril 2012, se tenait au nord de Dakar le troisième Congrès des Global Greens, ou Verts mondiaux.

Water grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors take control of valuable water resources for their own benefit, depriving local communities whose livelihoods often depend on these resources and ecosystems.

Largest cut flower exporter Karuturi Global ventures into food business

Company looks to tide over land-grabbing allegations, devastating flood for its $300mn project in Ethiopia.

In Uganda it is the top leadership that initiates the land grabs for global land thieves. Whole communities are being displaced and scattered.

Egypt’s Citadel Capital has been busy defending its work in Africa, such as in South Sudan where it has taken a number of measures to ensure its agribusiness project benefits the local community and doesn’t step on small farmer toes.

Despite decades of anti-colonial civilian resistance in Africa, a pernicious movement of land acquisition is overtaking the continent at a rate unprecedented since the conquests of the 19th Century.

Le Centre pour l’environnement et le développement dénonce la concession de 73 000 hectares accordée par l’État camerounais à une société américaine qui vise une production annuelle de 400 000 tonnes d’huile de palme. 25 000 riverains seraient affectés par ce projet.