There is too much at stake when governments give up land, water, and livestock to large-scale foreign investment. NGOs and funders have to listen and respond to the needs and accomplishments on the ground, and keep local food systems truly local.

Michael Burry, the former hedge-fund manager who predicted the US housing market’s plunge, said he is investing in farmland. “I believe that agriculture land -- productive agricultural land with water on site -- will be very valuable in the future.”

Singapore-listed Golden Agri Resources said it was “actively evaluating” taking a share in a 220,000-hectare project being offered by the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Analysts and farming executives say the crisis is likely to accelerate the consolidation of Russian agriculture already under way, allowing big conglomerates to swoop on struggling small farmers.

A farmland development group backed by Jacob Rothschild is to become the first Brazilian company to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange

The Indian government is encouraging private companies to shop for land in countries like Canada, Myanmar, Australia and Argentina to grow crops under long-term supply contracts.

"A large [Indian] agri-export company is already in advanced stages of discussions with the Paraguayan government and may announce its foray into the country shortly” says Paraguay’s ambassador in New Delhi,

The National Farmers Union is warning that the Canadian family farm is under threat from increased corporate control and foreign ownership.

“It’s not common in Brazil to find farmers presenting accounts to international investors. What you can see here is the new model for agribusiness in Brazil,” says André Pessôa, co-ordinator of the Rally da Safra.

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.

And now the bad news. FAO has taken a U-turn in its clear position on the race by food-importing countries and private companies to buy land overseas for domestic food and agriculture needs.

Multinational food companies have come under fire for buying up farmland in developing countries by activists holding a forum in parallel to the UN Hunger Summit.

While food security may be the aim of land acquisitions for many Gulf investors, KCIC sees Asian agribusiness purely from a commercial standpoint.

De Jager is most excited about an impending Agri SA fact-finding mission to Libya at the invitation of President Muammar Gaddafi. "If we succeed there, we can succeed anywhere in Africa."

"Our proposition to the governments is that we can help them develop the infrastructure and develop the farmland and we will then take a share of the produce," says KCIC

Key areas of investment interest from pension and sovereign wealth funds in UK, Middle East, Europe and the US include agriculture land in Australia, South and North America, and throughout Europe.

Unctad’s World Investment Report is the first detailed analysis of FDI flows behind the so-called farmland grab trend, in which countries such as Saudi Arabia or South Korea invest in overseas plots.

COPAGEN strongly recommends peasant organisations along with other sectors of the population to mobilise and to challenge the land grab transactions already made and, from the standpoint of food sovereignty, to discuss how to safeguard this land that is their heritage.

As financiers seek to diversify their fee bases, investment banks are scenting an opportunity in Gulf states’ eagerness to secure long-term food supplies in the form of agricultural investment deals.

After focusing for decades on oil, metals and minerals, Japan's huge trading houses are turning to agricultural commodities, with Tokyo enthusiastically supporting the shift amid concerns about local and global food security .

Kuwait China Investment Co (KCIC), a firm linked to the Gulf Arab state's sovereign wealth fund, is eyeing investments in Asia's agriculture sector, the company's managing director said on Wednesday.

While everyone from the Rothschild’s – via the Agrifirma Brazil fund, run with Jim Slater – through to Nicola Horlick and UBS are snapping up farmland in Brazil, I’m fascinated by another niche: Canada and New Zealand.

A scramble by wealthy states to snap up developing world farmland to ensure their own food security -- especially in Africa -- could trigger conflict in poorer countries, World Food Programme deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu said on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt. "I fear... conflict," she said.

Russia and other ex-Soviet countries could boost world food supply by encouraging more private investment, the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Saturday.

Oman has sought the assistance of the specialised UN agency, UNCTAD, in conducting a study on food security.

Japan will spearhead a drive at the Group of Eight summit to prevent "farmland grabbing" in developing countries and encourage responsible investing in agriculture.

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

For the far-sighted investor, especially one spending dollars, an agricultural downturn could be the time to consider buying farmland.

The Seychelles has cancelled a large new hotel development that was to be have been built on prime agricultural land, following strong objections from local residents worried about food security.

South Korea’s project to transform Madagascar into its breadbasket, branded by some as neo-colonial, came to an abrupt end on Wednesday when the Indian Ocean island’s new president said he would shelve the plan.