Feronia Inc. got into the palm oil business in September 2009 through the purchase of a 100,000 hectare plantation in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Unilever.

AN extraordinary new process has been at work in the past few years: the aggressive entry of Indian corporations into the markets for agricultural land in Africa, writes Jayati Gosh

The debate on large scale land acquisition in Tanzania is far from over as there is a changing dynamic now as local investors team up in joint venture with foreign investors and we are made to believe that since we have one of our own in the investment venture our interests are taken care of.

The idea of combining the greed of investors with the fight against hunger as a mutually beneficial business venture has failed miserably

Fear of unrest and hunger for profit are sparking massive acquisitions of farmland.

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.

Le gouvernement du Mozambique est en train de concéder l'usage de 6 millions d'hectares de terres, soit l'équivalent des deux tiers de la superficie du Portugal, afin que de grands exploitants agricoles brésiliens cultivent du soja, du coton et du maïs dans le nord de ce pays africain

New report provides a detailed examination of the role of the Indian government and Indian companies engaged in overseas agricultural land acquisitions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Russia is offering agricultural land to Southeast Asian nations to grow crops and help secure reliable food supplies, part of wider efforts to foster trade and investment ties in new markets.

Investors are pouring into farmland in the US and parts of Europe, Latin America and Africa as global food prices soar.

Restrictive legislation on the selling of land will continue to be null and void so long as foreigners can rent farm land -- the ‘leasing loophole’.

The thriving market for land for commercial agriculture in East and West Africa is now seen as a threat to food security as rural populations are pushed off prime land.

Global Economic Symposium, to be held 4-6 October in Kiel, Germany, will have a special session on land grabbing.

While Serengeti Advisers and their partners as well as the Tanzanian government thought theirs was a move to attract Foreign Direct Investment in commercial farming, to critics the deal is another land grabbing done by the pimps of globalization.

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

The US-based Worldwatch Institute recommends three considerations to help guide global land transactions to promote mutual benefit.

New Zealand’s relative isolation and high-priced property means the nation has missed out on a global grab for land, especially farms, despite rising public disquiet about such sales, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research says.

Beltone Private Equity and Kenana Sugar Company have signed an agreement to create the MAHASEEL Agriculture Investment Fund, aiming to deploy up to $1 billion in large-scale agriculture projects in Sudan and Egypt.

Groups from Latin America, Europe and around the world issue open letter calling on International Finance Corporation to reject a proposal to finance Calyx Agro's Latin American farmland grabs for foreign investors.

Une lettre ouverte exhorte la Société financière internationale à rejeter une proposition de financement concernant une entreprise spécialisée dans l’acquisition de terres agricoles en Amérique latine pour des investisseurs étrangers.

Una carta abierta de organizaciones de la sociedad civil pide a la Corporación Financiera Internacional del Banco Mundial que rechace una propuesta para financiar a Calyx Agro

"Ultimately, we want to see more, not less, investment in Australian agriculture for the benefit of our industry, but we need to be very clear about the motives," says Jock Laurie, head of Australia's National Farmers Federation

"You get a clash of sovereignties. You might take an individual to court or a corporation to court. But I think you'll be very concerned if you take a country to court especially when that country is far bigger than the one you live in," Australian Senator Joyce said.

Villagers vow to resist as wildlife vanishes and they are driven from their land to make way for water-thirsty crops.

Pambazuka News spoke to Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau about what prompted their research on large-scale investments in land in Africa and what they discovered.

African farmers do need investment and support. They desperately need decent roads and access to local markets, processing equipment to add value to their own diverse farm produce, storage and drying facilities to prevent post-harvest losses, and basic amenities such as schools and health centres and water wells to improve rural lives, so that farming communities can thrive. But foreign investors are not in business to provide any of these things.

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.

Los fondos de pensiones pueden ser uno de los pocos tipos de acaparadores de tierras que los trabajadores pueden desbaratar, por el sólo hecho que ellos son los dueños del dinero

The GCC's food import bill stood at $25.8-billion in 2010, and will more than double to reach $53.1-billion in 2020, according to an Alpen Capital report.

Pension funds may be one of the few classes of land grabbers that people can pull the plug on, by sheer virtue of the fact that it is their money.