There is a new, but deceptive, foreign drive to end hunger in Africa through large-scale agribusiness.

Lessons need to be learned to transform Africa's ‘resource curse’ into a ‘resource blessing’ and to mitigate against the negative impacts of large land-based investments.

Increased agricultural development in Zambia will actually compromise the country’s food security as peasant farmers continue to be driven off their customary land to pave the way for large-scale local and foreign agribusiness.

"It seems incongruous that Herakles Farms claims it is trying to improve the lives of local people but then there is scarcely any consultation with those same people over what is to be done with the land they depend on for their livelihoods, nor any serious acknowledgment of the risks posed to local environments and the global climate," writes Kumi Naidoo

We are witnessing a second scramble for Africa and other poor countries by rich nations and agribusinesses to acquire land for agricultural and biofuel purposes.

One of the greatest threats Africa has ever faced is the impact from this new phenomenon of land-grabbing

Investment firms describe it as the next golden opportunity. They say they're taking and using underutilised and uncultivated land. But as MaraPost's *Charles Mkula* reports, simply put, it's land-grabbing and somethings has to be done about it

The Nevada US firm Farm Lands of Africa has, after two years, accelerated its development into an agricultural producer by buying a rice-to-eucalyptus group in the Republic of Guinea with a landbank of 220,000 hectares, an area nearly the size of Luxembourg.

Herakles says it will provide locals with steady work, roads and health care. But critics call the planned plantation, which would cover Fabe and at least 30 other forest villages in Cameroon, a land grab. Special report from Reuters.

The AgriSol investment is a good case in justifying that in Tanzania it is the state which grabs on behalf of the investors as opposed in other areas where land is acquired illegally.

The US-based Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement say they want senior government officials involved in the deal investigated and prosecuted for accepting a deal that will be detrimental to the welfare of Tanzanians.

Africa's agricultural sector offers a great opportunity for international investors, an official with the OECD said Tuesday, but risks remain over controversial issues such as "land grabbing."

What can affected communities do when the World Bank Group has facilitated land grabs? For a better understanding of the practical steps that people can take, Righting Food interviewed Natalie Bridgeman Fields, the founder and Executive Director of Accountability Counsel

The company has approached the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank to raise another $100 million for a sugarcane estate.

Despite the lucrative returns that foreign investors can achieve by investing in African agriculture, the on-the-ground realities of operating in the continent is often less rosy.

Major agricultural investor in Ethiopia, Saudi Star, has bigger problems there than it might have expected.

Cevital, Algeria’s biggest sugar producer, asked Ivory Coast’s government to make land available for the production of rice, sugar, maize and vegetable oil, according to a company official.

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

Trilogy Capital is involved in a large scale agriculture project in Ethiopia with US-based Morrell Agro Industries.

The U.S. should reassess its support for the government of Ethiopia, amid concern that more than half a million people are being evicted to make land available for foreign investment in agriculture, advocacy groups say.

Four African leaders attending the rich nations’ meeting that opens in Washington today have been cautioned to be wary of the G8’s New Alliance to Increase Food and Nutrition Security, noting that it poses a serious threat to small-scale farmers in Africa.

African governments are bringing agriculture schemes to international investors in the hope of matching investors to fertile soils

Farmers and activists are increasing pressure on the government to be more transparent about large-scale land deals with foreign firms and to make sure local communities benefit

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.

Neil Crowder of Chayton Capital tells the BBC that farming in Africa can be very profitable - just wait till you hear how much he expects investors will make. But will it also benefit Africans?

According to Rana Kapoor, head of India's Yes Bank, Africa offers immense opportunity in terms of investment in large-scale commercial farming, quoting rates of return of 18-21% and above.

Sub-Saharan African agriculture investor EmVest Asset Management has received its first allocation from London-based Truestone Impact Investment Management, which focuses on delivering market rate returns from social and environmental investments.

While interest in Australian agricultural land is coming from all quarters, it is the prospect of sovereign investment to shore up a nation's food security that is attracting the most attention.

Chairman of National Transitional Council says Libya will make major direct agricultural investments in Sudan and other countries close to Libya.

The article suggests the need to render the government a custodian (and not owner) of land in conformity with the FDRE Constitution