Over the past year, I have been collecting material on biofuels, land rights in Africa, and global land grabbing. Reading through this material worries me greatly, for it carries very strong echoes of Cecil Rhodes and his merry men.

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.”

A group of food security advocates wants a Philippine government-led corporation that identifies new land suitable for local and foreign agricultural businesses abolished.

Vaughan-Smith and his team of seven professionals are scouting for commercial farms in five countries — Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia — where conditions are deemed to be the most favorable.

Environmentalists are up in arms over the latest design for the Merau­ke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in Papua, which they say will see more than 1.1 million hectares of forests converted into agricultural estates.

More radical steps are being taken to increase production, both by the government, which recently approved two new strains of genetically modified rice, and by agricultural entrepreneurs, who are buying and cultivating land in neighbouring countries.

Sources close to Al-Amoudi said that the king has shown an interest in seeing other Saudi companies involved in rice farming after seeing the samples presented by Al-Amoudi

"Qatar is in the process of formulating a national strategy for food security that we expect to shift from a focus on land ownership in developing countries to land leases and joint ventures with the private sector in developed countries," reports the US Embassy in Doha

Gulf nations now are quietly scouring the globe for rich farmland to rent or buy outright.

In other African countries, including Ghana, South Africa and Togo, the China State Farm and Agribusiness Corporation (CSFAC) has founded 11 agricultural production, processing and sales projects, and runs a total of 16,000 hectares of farmlands

A Bangkok court ruled that about 3,000 Cambodians could proceed with a class-action suit against Mitr Phol, the world’s fourth-largest sugar producer. Farmers in Oddar Meanchey province are seeking compensation after the Cambodian government allocated land to the company for sugar plantations.

Background note to accompany a joint press release on the Kenyan government finding Karuturi Global Ltd guilty of tax evasion

Dalla Al Baraka, a Saudi conglomerate with $5 billion in annual revenue, has acquired two million acres of farmland in eastern Sudan to produce food for export to the Middle Eastern kingdom. While the investors are hoping to wean Saudi Arabia off imports from South America, such agreements cause concern among local Sudanese farmers.

US government cable discusses 24 January 2010 meeting organised by Swiss Development Corporation, UN Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Investment on "Land, Investment, and Development," attended by many of the key players working on responsible international agro-industrial and land investment principles

The Ethiopian government’s ambitious target of harvesting 28 million tonnes of cereals in the first three quarters of the 2007/2008 budget year has failed. Authorities seem determined to change this situation by leasing huge chunks of land to other sovereign states for mechanised farming.

CRR’s sustainability analysis shows that deforestation and fires have taken place on TIAA’s farmland portfolio in Brazil, enabling negative social impacts on local communities.

Complex web of data reveals large swathes of country controlled by small number of billionaires and large companies

Transcription d'une table ronde organisée à Paris le 8 avril 2013 avec Stefano Liberti, Olivier de Schutter, Luc Lamprière et Anne-Cécile Robert

Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd is exploring opportunities in other African countries besides Liberia for its palm oil business expansion.

Pension fund giant TIAA is investing its clients’ funds in farmland and agribusinesses tied to environmental and human rights abuses in Latin America.

In this excerpt from her book, ‘Will Africa Feed China?’, Deborah Brautigam discusses China-Cameroon agricultural development and investment.

Nationwide advertisements have been placed in newspapers today, calling for an end to foreign ownership of New Zealand farmland.

Recueil de témoignages des victimes du projet Senhuile-Senéthanol dans les villages de Ndiaël, au Sénégal.

Jusqu’à maintenant, les efforts déployés pour réglementer les accaparements de terres étaient le fait des institutions internationales. Maintenant, le secteur privé s’engage à définir ses propres règles du jeu.

There is "a wall of money" looking for a home in agricultural investments worldwide, say managers for BlackRock's London-based World Agriculture Fund.

Un nouveau rapport d'une alliance d'organisations de la société civile dévoile l'un des échecs les plus scandaleux des investissements des banques de développement dans l'agriculture.

En définissant comme "intérêt national" ou "bien national" des projets de développement liés à la terre, qui ne respectent pas la notion du droit au développement, qui génèrent des migrations et aboutissent à des violations inextricables des droits fondamentaux de la population et des communautés locales, les Etats abusent du pouvoir qui leur est octroyé aussi bien par la communauté nationale qu’internationale.

FIDP has launched a Cambodia and Laos fund, “an extended China play” that will focus largely on agriculture, seeking to benefit from China’s desire for food security.

Companies are betting that global appetites will increasingly rely on Black Sea soil even as obstacles to growth remain.

A slew of countries and investors — from Chinese state corporations to Gulf sheiks to Wall Street firms — have started buying up farmland overseas, in an apparent attempt to acquire as much precious soil and water as possible.