FAO

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), alarmed at the way governments and private corporations are buying farmland in developing countries, plans to present international guidelines to protect local people and farmers from what some have dubbed "neo-colonialism".

Razzia. Etats, industriels, people, tout le monde s'y met : l'achat de terre est devenu un investissement stratégique. (Le Point)

Agricultural experts have called for a halt to moves by Gulf investors to snap up foreign land, amid claims that poor nations are losing much-needed farmland in a calculated land grab.

In June 2009, the Indian company Karuturi took up intensive farming in Ethiopia. The harvest will be exported to Asia and Europe.

Indiens et Saoudiens sont sur le point d’effectuer leur première récolte sur sol éthiopien. Le pays a prévu de céder 2,7 millions d’hectares aux étrangers.

The terms of farmland deals are hardly made public. Although a theoretical possibility exists in a few cases for some transfer of technology for agricultural development, risk also exists to peasant farmers who cannot compete with well-resourced commercial farms. Take, for instance, the case of barley and oilseeds producers in Ethiopia.

The consensus is that Africa is being out-gunned. While regulations & rules are debated, the amount of land being bought up by foreign investors is increasing at a rapacious speed.

To be brutally honest, mutual interest is the opposite of what investor countries are looking for

Topics discussed included a review of recent trends in international investment, the record on FDI in developing country agriculture, evidence on recent investments, the “land grab” and its implications, alternative business models for investments, bridging the investment gap – investment needs and sources of capital, policy implications and the case for an international code of conduct.

The boom in the acquisition of arable land in Africa by foreign companies and governments has stirred an international debate between international institutions such as the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and non-governmental groups and independent experts.

De Schutter y la FAO son, a mi juicio, muy confiados, porque entienden que una regulación ética “podría ser positiva, después de muchos años en los que ha habido falta de interés en el mundo por invertir en la agricultura”.

David Hallam explains how international investments in agriculture can be good news if the objectives of land purchasers are reconciled with the investment needs of developing countries.