Instead of providing land to big corporations, the Indonesian government has a better choice: to redistribute land to the millions of landless and peasant families so they can work again to feed their family.
The Company intends to develop approximately 32,500 ha of land for palm oil production in Sorong Regency, West Papua Province, Indonesia.
Indonesia aims to attract Gulf Arab investors to develop "sleeping land" says Agriculture Minister during meetings with businessmen in Riyadh.
Pelo menos nove grupos, entre coreanos, chineses e indonésios, vieram neste ano ao país em busca de terras para plantio de alimentos.
Foreigners will be allowed to have a maximum ownership of 49 percent in plantations for staples such as rice, according to a presidential decree seen by Reuters on Monday.
These planned food estates will deprive Papuans of their traditional resources for hunting and fishing and destroy the very basis of their livelihoods.
Business leaders and even top government officials have been left surprised by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s announcement last week that the country would impose a two-year moratorium on the clearing of natural forests, which may affect various foreign investment projects.
Environmentalists are up in arms over the latest design for the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate in Papua, which they say will see more than 1.1 million hectares of forests converted into agricultural estates.
Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) mengatakan program food estate di Merauke, Papua akan memberikan empat kerugian implikasi.
Chinese investors to open 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Tommo subdistrict, Mamuju regency, West Sulawesi province, Indonesia
The Agricultural Stance Coalition has rejected the government’s plan to establish a food estate in Merauke, Papua. According to them, the plan sounds reckless and letting the people of Indonesia become slaves in their own country.
"We request the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to conduct an independent study on the impact of MIFEE and other similar businesses to Indigenous Peoples in Merauke and around the world."
