The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has launched a venture aiming to invest in food production worldwide focusing on the acquisition and development of existing agribusiness companies rather than the lease of large tracts of farmland.
The seizing of the poor farmers' land is destroying their only hope of survival on earth.
For the world’s people to have secure access to the quantity and quality of food needed for a decent life, the land grabs and the development of large, highly mechanized factory farms must stop.
The growing financialisation of Brazilian agribusiness is enabling foreign investment in the industry most responsible for deforestation - and land grabbing
New book explains the reasons behind the land grab phenomenon and why so many Ethiopians are not only alarmed but also adamantly opposed to it.
A global food crisis and rapid population growth are making farmland an increasingly attractive investment. Holly Black looks at the options.
Contrary to past trends, countries in the Global South are initiating much of the investment.
“It is the height of stupidity for our country to bargain our lands for the sake of other nation’s food security, while being dependent on importation for our very own food security needs,” says Rafael Mariano
Evidence suggests a marked disparity in the benefits received by those involved in and affected by these transnational land acquisitions, particularly for those originally dwelling on the land.
Une initiative internationale jetant la lumière sur l’ensemble de ces transactions est désormais un impératif autant qu’un préalable pour protéger cette agriculture que nous avons plus que jamais en partage
In order to better resist contemporary, neocolonial accumulation, we need to historicize land grabs in Africa.
Civil society, including African farmers unions, need to educate local people that such land deals are not in their interests, however couched in 'win-win' terminology they appear to be.
In this excerpt from her book, ‘Will Africa Feed China?’, Deborah Brautigam discusses China-Cameroon agricultural development and investment.
Both public and private sector investors in the Gulf are also looking at ways to improve local food supplies, by investing in a range of outlets from arable farm land in the Sudan, Algeria and Pakistan to introduce new technology to enhance the local production of foodstuffs and grains, livestock, poultry and fish.
The UAE and other Gulf oil producers are considering creating a giant fund to invest in farm in fertile Arab areas and other nations to slash a soaring import bill and ease reliance on foreign markets for their food.
Il faut être extrêmement attentif à ce que la dimension Nord-Sud n’en vienne pas à occulter ce qui, dans ce phénomène, constitue la dimension principale : le risque de tension entre les intérêts des élites des pays hôtes des investissements et ceux des communautés locales que ces investissements affecteront le plus directement dans leurs moyens d’existence – petits paysans, populations indigènes, éleveurs de bétail.
Hassad Food knows how to shop. The $1b subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund finalised a $500m agreement last year to grow wheat & rice on 100,000 ha in Sudan and has announced plans to invest $700m worldwide this year.
Indigenous people in Cameroon claim a company is stealing communal land to build a palm oil plantation -- a dispute that could lead to conflict, hunger and human rights abuses.
Given the power imbalances at play, it is folly to assume that land-seekers will suddenly embrace, en masse, a set of voluntary rules promoting sustainable and equitable investor practices, says Michael Kugelman
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The Bunong people's land struggle with Socfin
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