Kuwait

Never mind the food miles: when prices are soaring around the world some countries have found a way of keeping their own consumers happy - farming out their farms overseas. One of Asia’s poorest countries, Cambodia, is at the top of their wish list.

Sudan seeks to focus on Arab food security during the Arab Economic Summit, which will kick off on Monday, said Finance and National Economy Minister Awadh Al-Jazz. "We have extensive land plots, and great water and animal resources."

Kuwait granted Cambodia a 546-million-dollar agricultural loan in August in return for crop production.

"Since 2005, the Burmese Government has encouraged investors from China, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Kuwait to invest in contract farms," reports the US mission in Rangoon

Le Cambodge a annoncé qu’il devrait avoir signé d’ici à mi- 2009 et que les accords concerneraient 2,5 millions d’hectares (l’équivalent de la Bretagne). Notons que le pays continue de recevoir une aide d’urgence du Programme alimentaire mondial, ce qui permet de douter de sa capacité à nourrir à la fois sa population et celle du Golfe…

Agriculture Department denies a recent WA trade delegation visit to several Middle Eastern countries was to promote selling WA agricultural land for grain and livestock.

Agriculture Minister Terry Redman says Western Australia should embrace moves by Arab interests in the Middle East to buy prime Wheatbelt farmland to secure their future food supplies. Two groups from the Middle East are due to visit the State early next year as they consider investments of up to $1 billion in cropping, sheep and dairy production in WA.

"They're not talking about $2 or $3 million, they're talking about $20 million to up to $1 billion of investment in big projects," Peter Metcalfe, the director of grain industry development for Western Australia, said in an interview.

Middle Eastern countries flush with oil funds want to invest up to $1bn in Australian farmland as they extend a drive for food security to the world’s second-largest wheat exporter, a grains official said yesterday.

One-hour audio debate on the BBC

Nomadic herders, rarely a priority for governments, are being dispossessed by bioethanol developments in Kenya, says Michael Taylor of the International Land Coalition (ILC), and they also depend on the “unused” land that Madagascar offered Daewoo.

The food crisis this year generated unprecedented interest in Cambodian agricultural land, and governments are scrambling for access to the country's vast food-growing potential.