Indonesia

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to inaugurate the food estate on Feb. 12-13.

The Indonesian government is wise to learn from the South Korea Daewoo-Madagascar deal, which demonstrated the enormous economic, social and political risks associated with foreign ownership of land and water rights.

There are many controversies regarding the expected positive and negative impacts of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's “food estate” program to be launched in Indonesia in February

As many as 32 investors plan to develop new sugar plantations and mills in several provinces, representing a total investment of Rp 24.3 trillion (US$2.6 billion), a minister has said.

Indonesia's Vice Agriculture Minister Bayu Krishnamurti said, “They are ready to invest, to build farms, factories and industries.”

Accaparement des terres - cas de l'Indonésie - par AGTER

Potentially, the government can set aside 12 million hectares for large-scale food cultivation.

The development, under which many residents will be forced to sell their land, has met opposition from locals and non-government organizations. The Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) has said that it will lead to a “land grab” by big businesses at the expense of locals.

The firms plan to develop 187,000 hectares of sugar cane plantations and build several sugar factories which will have total capacity to process 76,000 tonnes of cane per day

Indonesian global palm oil giant, Golden Agri-Veroleum will invest more than US$1.6 billion dollars on more than 240,000 hectares of oil palm to boost the country’s oil palm sector.

Golden VerOleum plans to acquire 200,00 hectares in south-eastern Liberia. The target areas are Grand Kru, Maryland, River Cess, River Gee and Sinoe counties. The export plans are based on a plantation system in which there are about 10 hectares for each worker.

Forecast reports on scarcity predict global actors will move in on dwindling resources. Governments are taking notice, and so should the public, Vivian Fritschi writes for ISN Security Watch.