Despite violent protests and coup, Daewoo continues to hold cropland in Madagascar
- Mongabay
- 19 June 2009
Daewoo continues to surreptitiously hold some 218,000 hectares of appropriated land in Madagascar
Daewoo continues to surreptitiously hold some 218,000 hectares of appropriated land in Madagascar
Support our protest with a letter to Ahn Yong Nam, president and CEO of Daewoo Logistics Corp. Urge Daewoo to bring clarity and transparency to the public about the announced contract with the Madagascan government, and their contents and conditions.
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These arrangements are reminiscent of “banana republics” when many African countries served as plantations for European countries -- but even those did not come with such explicit restrictions and rigidities.
More important is for Africa to realise its own potential for food production, which would in the long-term negate the need for these deals.
When the new Land Reform Minister rummaged through his office in Madagascar's capital, he was shocked to discover the documents for a $2-billion deal to lease huge tracts of farmland to an Indian entrepreneur.
Less than two weeks ago, Daewooinformed the public through the press that it stopped its plans for large-scale plantation in Madagascar. However, it was only a diversion to keep the local press away.
Il y a moins de deux semaines, Daewoo a informé publiquement par voie de presse l’arrêt de ses projets de plantation à grande échelle à Madagascar. Toutefois, ce n’était qu’une diversion pour éloigner la presse locale.
Food-importing nations from South Korea to Saudi Arabia may step up purchases or leases of overseas farmland to lock in supplies amid concern prices may again surge. “We’re going to see more of this, especially from countries that are quite dependent on imports,” Brady Sidwell, head of advisory at Rabobank Groep NV’s Northeast Asia Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory Group, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast today.
The problem of food security poses a real threat to global stability. Meeting in Italy last weekend, agriculture ministers of the G8 industrialized countries recognized the extent of the problem. They pledged to continue fighting hunger. But beyond calling for increased public and private investment in agriculture, the final communiqué of the ministerial meeting was short on fresh proposals.
Hyundai Heavy Industries -- the world's biggest shipyard -- has bought a big tract of Russian farmland in one of the latest diversification moves by Korean firms. But here's a question: Have performance- and profit-obsessed Hyundai Vice Chairman Min Gye-sik and its CEO Choi Kil-seon voluntarily decided on the move or has the company's biggest stakeholder pushed for the plan?