Korea leases African land to ensure food security

African Press Agency | 30 November 2009

APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) — South Korea is the latest Asian country to embrace Africa as a strategic partner in its further development, especially in creating a reliable food security base for this rich Korean peninsula state to feed its growing population.

Born out of the ruins of the Korean War (1950-53) that pitched the north of the country and their southern brothers – supported by China and UN forces, respectively – South Korea is a developed country today, which exports US$175 billion in electronic products, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, steel, ships, textiles, clothing, footwear and fish to the West, Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Her import bill of US$161 billion shows that Seoul truly has a robust and well-managed economy.

But in spite of this industry, the heavily populated and resource poor country of only 98,480 sq km has realised that its 49 million people cannot, in the long term, be fed sustainably without the assistance of Africa’s abundant land resources.

This may explain about the country’s recently publicised land acquisitions in Madagascar and the Sudan to grow food crops — but not without criticism, however, from certain quarters both in Africa and overseas.

Taking advantage of its cordial diplomatic relations with all African states, the Koreans three years ago set up a Korea-Africa Forum during which the two sides meet to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The latest such gathering took place in November in Seoul, during which the Koreans pledged to double their Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to over US$212 million from US$107 million at the last Korea-Africa Forum in 2006.

The Forum seeks to explore ways to strengthen ties on development and cooperation between Korea and the African continent.

The forum provides a unique opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on issues of mutual interest and explore further ways of strengthening economic cooperation and experience sharing in many areas of mutual interest.

But African Union (AU) chair and Libyan leader, Muammar Qaddafi, during the just ended World Food Security summit in Rome, Italy, called for an end to the buying and selling of African farmland by rich nations.

The leader of the Libyan revolution described the act of buying farmland on the continent as "new feudalism" which could spread to Latin America as well.

"We should fight against this new feudalism. We should put an end to this land grab in African countries," the Libyan leader declared.

He added, "Rich countries are now buying the land in Africa. They are cheating African people out of their rights. This is also going to happen in Latin America."

No doubt he had in mind Korea’s much publicized land purchases in the Sudan, where it purchased 1.7 million hectares of land to grow wheat for the Korean market.

In Madagascar, Daewoo Logistics of South Korea has leased 1.3 million hectares of farmland for 99 years to grow food crops such as maize and palm oil for Seoul, in a deal that diplomats and consultants said was the largest of its kind.

The pursuit of foreign farm investments is a clear sign of how countries are seeking food security following this year’s crisis – which saw record prices for commodities such as wheat and rice and food riots in countries from Egypt to Haiti.

Prices for agricultural commodities have tumbled by about half from such levels but countries remain concerned about long-term supplies. And the recent rush to grab land in Africa by Korea and other countries has given critics of such practices like Qaddafi to condemn this as nothing but a land grab.

This was agreed by French Farm Minister Bruno Le Maire, who said that these land-leasing practices in Africa should be stopped.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, which sponsored the World Food Security summit, said the land purchases in Africa risked the fear of creating a “neo-colonial” system.

These fears could be increased by the fact that Daewoo’s farm in Madagascar represents about half the African country’s arable land, according to estimates by the US government.

However, Qaddafi’s call was disputed by Kanayo Nwanze, who heads the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) : "It is wrong to call them land grabs. These are investments in farmland like investments in oil exploration. We can have win-win situations."

South Korea became into being after World War II, the result of a 1945 agreement reached by the World War II allies at the Potsdam Conference which divided the peninsula into two areas influenced by the then USSR in the north and the USA in the south.
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