OECD

Le Point de contact national français pour la mise en œuvre des principes directeurs de l’OCDE appelle au Groupe Bolloré à prendre leurs responsabilités et à poursuivre leur effort pour engager le dialogue avec les plaignants

NGOs have filed a new complaint against Australia’s ANZ Bank claiming it owes compensation to 681 Cambodian families who say their farms were illegally grabbed by a sugarcane plantation the bank helped to finance.

Two hundred and seven families have turned to the US Government to help mediate the long-running dispute with the exclusive purchaser of the sugar, New York-based American Sugar Refining (ASR).

Investors interested in buying land in Africa, have denied accusations that they are involved in landgrabs, insisting their practice is the only way to feed growing populations.

Africa's agricultural sector offers a great opportunity for international investors, an official with the OECD said Tuesday, but risks remain over controversial issues such as "land grabbing."

Report by HighQuest Partners for the OECD, October 2011, features 6 case studies of land grabbers: Agrica, CalyxAgro, Cazanae, Jantzen, NFD Agro and Quifel

Given the expected need for additional arable land to be brought into production on a global basis, the amount of capital that could enter the [farmland acquisition] sector could substantially exceed USD 150 billion.

A recent global surge in private investment in farmland is set to continue as investors look to returns from agricultural production and to rising land values, said an OECD executive on Thursday.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said that so far trade and investment deals with partners in the south are merely reinforcing a long-standing trend with the north in which African countries export farm produce, minerals, ores, and crude oil, and import manufactured goods.

"It's not something that is going to take too long, it's not rocket science," Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the OECD, said of the planned guidelines on agriculture.

Dossier spécial du Club de Sahel / l'OCDE de 12 pages sur l'accaparement des terres en Afrique de l'Ouest

This double issue of OECD's magazine includes a 12-page dossier on land grab deals in West Africa