Kenya

Foreign land barons are using millions of shillings to hire elite law firms for advice on how to protect their property should Kenyans pass the proposed Constitution — that bars them from owning land — in Wednesday's vote.

A behind-the-scenes account of the struggle of a local community in Kenya to protect their livelihoods, as US-owned Dominion Farms takes their lands.

Indian tea companies, among others, are making a beeline to acquire estates in Africa. And the government is facilitating their hunt for good deals.

De senaste åren har jordbruksmark i Afrika blivit ett glödhett investeringsobjekt för både stater och privata intressen. På lokal nivå hamnar världens fattiga ofta i kläm. I Nyanzaprovinsen i västra Kenya fick byborna se sitt levebröd försvinna ner i gapet på ett amerikanskt risföretag.

"Investors like Citadel Capital and Goldman Sachs must be stopped from acquiring large tracts of land in Africa because this practice has become a serious threat to the continent's food sovereignty"

The recent large-scale acquisition of land in Kenya and in Africa in general happens on murky terrain as governments negotiate behind closed doors.

Un nuevo informe publicado hoy por FIAN Internacional documenta las conclusiones de dos misiones investigadoras sobre el acaparamiento de tierras en Kenia y Mozambique, y concluye que éste viola los derechos humanos.

A new report by FIAN International documents land grabbing in Kenya & Mozambique and concludes that land grabbing violates human rights.

Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital is seeking to buy Kenya’s firms and long-term land leases as it seeks agro-based raw materials to feed its food business.

Citadel's Karim Sadek dismisses talk of land grabbing as an “academic concern”, saying “there should definitely be a priority for the produce to be sold on the local market, if there is a paying market for it”.

The lack of systematic collection of data and categorising private and official investments from the Gulf has made it difficult to reach an accurate estimate of total investments, made so far.

Bill Law investigates the causes and consequences of the great global land grab. Tonight, episode one in Kenya.