Lonrho

Rollex, an agriculture division of UK-based Lonrho, has more than 150 farmers under its contract scheme and also runs its own farms.

Lonrho Plc, which operates farms and claims land concessions in several African countries, said it received a £174.5 million buyout offer from a company controlled by Swiss billionaire Thomas Schmidheiny and investor Rainer-Marc Frey.

La semaine dernière, Folha De San Paulo affirmait que le gouvernement mozambicain avait concédé 6 millions d'hectares à des investisseurs du Brésil. Depuis, Maputo a démenti l'information. Mais la question agite le Mozambique.

« Il est regrettable que la mise au point de l’Office du Niger passe sous silence des cessions aussi importantes que celles faites à Malibya Agricole (100 000 ha), à Huicoma (100 000 ha), au GDCM (7400 ha), » s'exclame le Parti pour la renaissance nationale du Mali

Les autorités, les riches entrepreneurs et les investisseurs étrangers partagent les terres de l’office du Niger pour y installer une sorte de colonisation.

While sovereign wealth funds have been buying up tracts of land, AgriTerra has been taking a different tack.

Farm Radio International writer Gladson Makowa, visited a Malawian community where small-scale farmland was transformed into a sugarcane plantation. He reports on how locals are coping with the loss of farmland and hoping to keep their houses.

Last year South Africa became a net importer of food for the first time in more than 20 years, reigniting concerns about food security and the viability of some farming sectors.

Even the World Bank is continuing its role as a neo-colonial consensus agent by actively pursuing and financing access to 'under-utilised land' around the world through its International Finance Corporation.

Lonrho, the pan-African conglomerate listed in London, has secured leasehold rights to 25,000 hectares of rice paddies in Angola and is negotiating two bigger land deals in Mali and Malawi, in another sign of investor appetite for African land.

Lonrho Agriculture will develop 25,000 hectares of agricultural projects in the Provinces of Uige, Zaire and Bengo in Angola.