To be brutally honest, mutual interest is the opposite of what investor countries are looking for

Africa’s agrarian questions are not adequately addressed by simply asking, “What is the role of African smallholders?”

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

THESE days, as we follow the struggle against the Taliban in the northwest, we can be forgiven for missing other important news. For instance, I had filed away a report on plans to lease large chunks of agricultural land in Punjab and Sindh to overseas investors in the back of my mind, planning to write about it later. When I ran a Google search on the subject, however, I realised the enormity of the scam.When I ran a Google search

Stephen Marks looks at the latest rush by China and countries in the middle east to sign lease agreements in poor countries for agricultural production, and what this trend means in terms of food security and access to arable land for local populations.

Investors have found a new target -- farmland in eastern Germany. As a result, the price of agricultural land there has soared by up to 100 percent. Many farmers are concerned about their survival after their current lease agreements run out in two years.

The rights and wrongs of global agricultural investment examined on Business Daily of the BBC

Part asset manager, part farmland operator, The Land Group acquires property and manages it with a variety of regenerative practices for institutional, family office, and fund investors. The firm currently has 40,000 hectares under operation in Uruguay and Paraguay.

The project, funded by the government's Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, will initially support Tiamin Rice in cultivating approximately 30,000 hectares of land in Gamawa.

The Company has now completed demarcation of more than 20,000 ha of land and transferred payments to 170 smallholders under the supervision of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank

Work is progressing on the joint venture between Demerara Distillers Limited and the LR Group of Israel, with land clearing and preparation of the first 100 acres currently in progress.

One year into the war, a new report reveals how oligarchs and financial interests are expanding control over Ukraine’s agricultural land with help and financing from Western financial institutions.

Frontal Trust develops strategic alliances with local agribusiness operators with the objective of structuring investment vehicles to fund their growth plans, and connecting capital to investment opportunities in Latin America farmland.

In April 2021, the Netherlands-based Kempen Capital Management (Kempen) launched the SDG Farmland Fund – a new investment solution to offer institutional investors global access to farmland as an asset class.

The Rohatyn Group (TRG), a New York-based asset manager with expertise in forestry, agriculture, and emerging markets, announced it had completed the sale of the Kaiuroo aggregation to RFM for an undisclosed sum.

Companies are seeking to press ahead with investments on community lands or even take advantage of the pandemic to avoid the usual authorization requirements

Entities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are directing large commitments to the farmland space, Investable Universe reports.

According to the Kerala press, Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, managing director Karuturi Global Ltd, has been arrested for fraud.

An investor has paid $171 million to acquire 14,500 acres of farmland in Washington State from Boston-based John Hancock Life Insurance Company, who bought the parcel in 2010 for $75 million.

The amount of Australian farm land owned by Chinese interests has surged tenfold in the past year, climbing above 14 million hectares or 2.5 per cent of all agricultural land.

65 civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-government organizations (NGOs) from across the world signed a unity statement urging Cambodian government to release land rights activist Tep Vanny, who has been in detention for the past 12 months.

The stage for an acquisition of Crookes could already be set thanks to the involvement of African agriculture-focused UK private equity firm SilverStreet Capital as the key shareholder through its Silverlands (SA) Plantations investment vehicle.

During President Rodrigo Duterte's visit to Malaysia, Malaysian businessmen expressed their interest in investing in palm oil plantations in the Philippines.

Covering two percent of the world's agricultural land, more than 1,000 territorial transfer deals signed since 2000 have become a fact of life for governments, investors and campaigners, transforming the geopolitical landscape.

On June 1, citizens and representatives of Belgian, French and Luxembourgish organisations are calling out to the shareholders of SOCFIN, a Belgian-Luxembourgish group, during their annual meeting.

Organisations from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo, agree to a "joint position" on the expansion of palm oil in the region.

There's no question that after five years of investing about $60 billion in the Australian resources and power sectors, the focus of Chinese investment is now on food.

The policies of the World Bank are encouraging land grabs in the developing world, writes Anuradha Mittal.

Statement published by Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps' website detailing the MOU it signed for agricultural projects in the Ukraine (with an excerpt translated to English).

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