The Hindu's Addis Ababa correspondent Aman Sethi has recently written about Indian companies’ involvement in Ethiopia and Mali, and on 19 May he took part in a Q&A session on Facebook on the issue of so-called Indian land grabs in African countries.

Hesham Al Shirawi, Chairman of Economic Zones World, mooted the idea of establishing free zones for agri-business in Africa during the Africa Global Business Forum 2013. The establishment of corn farms is also a lucrative business proposition, he added.

Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has approved the establishment of a new East Asia Agricultural Development and Investment Company to invest in farming.

China's ambassador says New Zealand has "over thought" his country's interest in acquiring land here, claiming other major farm purchases are unlikely.

As institutions and private investors show increased interest in farmland, prices are rising.

Tanzania Investment Centre in collaboration with the Prime Minister's Office and the Southern Agriculture Corridor of Tanzania Centre recently organized a conference under the theme 'Accelerating Tanzania's Agribusiness Investment' in Dar es Salaam.

The craze in recent years for huge investments in bio energy and agribusiness in Tanzania has seen small poor farmers being dispossessed of their lands through tricky contracts and the false hope of making riches overnight.

The focus of this year's World Water Day is on water and food security, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility launches a campaign to educate institutional investors on the impacts of large acquisitions of farmland in the global South.

In an effort to improve food security, the government has been investing in agriculture projects abroad, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, Pakistan, Romania, Sudan and the Americas, to secure food supplies and safeguard against market fluctuations.

A massive land grab is unfolding on the African continent, mired in secrecy and spearheaded by hedge funds, financial speculators and foreign companies. South Sudan has become one of the latest frontiers for these investors.

Tanzania's President says his government has decided to work with the private sector in large scale farming and the Tazara corridor is the starting point.

The UAE will set up a strategic food stock as part of a food security strategy that includes aquiring farmland in African and Asian countries

This three years memorandum is not only setting a framework of cooperation but it includes some specific steps such as mutual beneficial arrangements in the agricultural sector (e.g. investment and provision of grain, development of a grain terminal)

"The big fear I have and which many people have is that these foreign investments shall increase the gap between the happy few large-scale producers who will benefit and the vast majority of small-scale producers who will be further marginalized," says Olivier de Schutter

A Norwegian company, ScanFuel Ltd., says its Ghanaian unit has contracted about 400,000 hectares of land, with up to 60 percent reserved for biofuel production, “not less” than 30 percent for food production and the remainder for biodiversity buffer zones.

Von Braun says many details of the land deals are unknown because of a lack of transparency. But he estimates the amount of land and money involved. “It adds up to 15 to 20 million hectares currently under negotiation…. So it’s fairly large. How much money is involved? If we add up the deals negotiated and the investments planned, it adds up to $20 to $30 billion of investment,” he says.

Bahrain and Turkish trade links took a step closer yesterday with the signing of an agreement for an agricultural project initially worth $0.5bn (BD189 million), rising to $3bn (BD1.13bn) and eventually $6bn (BD2.26bn), said Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro at the signing ceremony.

En fait, les responsables de Daewoo n’annoncent pas qu’ils envisagent d’annuler leur projet. Il n’est question que de retard pour la culture de maïs. De plus, ce n’est qu’une éventualité et non une information. La culture d’huile de palme sur 300 000 ha n’est pas concernée.

The Pakistan government is all set to provide legal cover through parliament to protect foreign investors and their investment in all sectors particularly agriculture. “We are in talks with investors from Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, for investment in corporate farming. Investors will be ensured repatriation of 100 per cent crop yield to their countries even in case Pakistan faces food deficit,” Federal Investment Minister Waqar Ahmad Khan said.

Africa could be the breadbasket for the GCC, providing valuable water and food supplies to the entire region, a Bahraini expert claimed yesterday.

As the Caribbean and the rest of the world are still grappling with the global food crisis, Guyana is seeking to sell its vast land and water resources to United States investors as an area suitable for agriculture and aquaculture investment.

As food crisis worsens, some nations are desperate for arable land

An open letter has been sent to the AfDB and Nordic Development Fund, calling on them to take immediate action to address reprisals against a community in Uganda impacted by the Wadelai irrigation project.

Hamar pastoralists are being evicted to roadside villages without their consent, and their ancestral grazing lands are being sold off to investors for commercial plantations.

Video by Alfredo Bini explores the phenomenon of land grabs through the eyes of foreign investors, governments and the people on the land.

L'accumulation d'énormes quantités de terres par un petit groupe de propriétaires fonciers alimente les inégalités et la crise climatique, selon un nouveau rapport qui appelle à une redistribution des terres et à des réformes fiscales mondiales pour inverser la tendance

An Iranian official says that Venezuela has agreed to provide one million hectares of agricultural land for Iran’s overseas cultivation projects to secure food.

Agriculture is being flagged as the replacement for residential property investments following changes to Portugal's Golden Visa programme, with investors urged to look towards funds such as Pela Terra and Terra Nova.

Après des années de campagnes, il est temps de s’interroger sur les résultats acquis : la mobilisation des ONG a-t-elle réellement fait reculer les expropriations de terre ?