Part 2 of a report from the US-based National Public Radio on landgrabbing in Africa, highlighting the case of Mozambique

The PHC oil palm plantations provide 100 years of lessons about the failures of agricultural, financial and governance systems in a globalized world.

Africa is regarded as the New Eldorado, and is attracting many foreign based private or public investment companies, sovereign wealth funds and even pension funds gradually. Sadly, while foreigners continue to play a major role in growth investments, African pension funds' contributions to this growth are dismal.

A slide show by GRAIN that profiles some of those who have been most actively pursuing or supporting farmland grabs around the world.

Banks, pension funds and insurers have been turning California's scarce water into enormous profits, leaving people with less to drink

A small but growing group of sophisticated investors and bankers are combining crops and the soil they grow in into an asset class that ordinary investors can buy a piece of.

Pension funds are deepening their commitment to farmland, upping investments by billions of dollars and moving to active strategies, as a hedge against potential inflation and to diversifty from riskier investments.

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

The growing financialisation of Brazilian agribusiness is enabling foreign investment in the industry most responsible for deforestation - and land grabbing

Africa’s agriculture and food industries are attracting increasing interest from investors. This trend is largely fuelled by the fact that the continent has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, with favourable weather conditions in many countries.

Investors are honing the focus of their cash on real assets including farmland, timber, mines and energy projects, which are less correlated to financial markets.

African governments need to raise their level of accountability and ensure that they improve and protect their own food security through quid pro quo side-agreements negotiated when they lease or sell their arable land to foreign interests, says Keith Mullin of Thompson Reuters

As the farmland REIT sector grows, Sustainable Economies Law Center is busy researching and piloting alternative models of farmland ownership that prioritize racial equity, ecological sustainability, and long-term stewardship.

Canadian billionaire Ned Goodman holds an 83% stake in Blue Goose Capital Corp. – the largest organic beef operator in North America that produces not only organic beef, but poultry and fish as well.

Passive indices have been replaced by new sophisticated active indices and pension fund managers like APG are investing in natural resources assets, including farmland.

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

Private equity and fund managers name South America a top place to buy, lease and manage agricultural lands for profit.

As world population expands, the demand for arable land should soar. At least that's what George Soros, Lord Rothschild, and other investors believe.

"We are seeing a land grab bigger than anywhere else in the world, and it has attracted a mighty cast of characters," says Kingsmill Bond, chief strategist at Troika Dialog, a Moscow brokerage firm.

An Associated Press investigation found poor conditions of millions of laborers from some of the poorest corners of Asia across palm oil plantation in Malaysia and Indonesia, many of them enduring various forms of exploitation, with the most serious abuses including child labor, outright slavery and allegations of rape.

On the occasion of the publication of Transnational Corporations and Land Speculation in Brazil, Mary Taylor of LeftEast spoke with Fábio Pitta, Devlin Kuyek and Attila Szőcs about the broader implications of the report's findings.

Some of the world's largest pension funds bet big on Brazilian farmland. Communities, and the climate, are paying the price

In Canada, surveying the land you own a share of, and talking crops with your farmer partner, might just be as close to real farming as many investors care to get.

Montreal-based Fiera Capital Corp. is taking the next step in its aggressive expansion plans that include adding agriculture and private equity to its current asset class offerings.

Despite their due diligence, Rabobank missed the fact that they were buying land in a village racked with corruption and land rights abuse, and from sellers deeply involved in murky business.

The Kenya Flower Council foresees huge implications for the country when Karuturi goes down, reports Flora Culture International

The Rohatyn Group , a private equity firm based in New York, is now the largest owner of agricultural land in the state of Michigan, making acquisitions through offshore companies registered in Singapore

Hubert Fabri and Vincent Bolloré own plantations accused of land appropriation and labor abuses. Their company says it has taken steps to improve matters, but a trip to West Africa shows sexual coercion claims remain widespread.

Auditors wrote down the value of Harvard's Brazil farm project by about $200 million after the endowment decided to exit the development in 2017, according to documents filed in a lawsuit.

A new report accuses Harvard University’s endowment of contributing to “environmental destruction,” and the displacement and harassment of communities in its pursuit to acquire $1 billion worth of farmland worldwide over the past decade.