UK

Farmland, whose $5,000bn value equates to about 7-10% of the value of world equity markets, could be worth 15-25% of share values by 2020, Hardman & Co analysts say

"The ONLY place where agriculture businesses and investors come together to discuss farmland investment" says the promoters

The Journal of Peasant Studies, in collaboration with the Land Deal Politics Initiative, is organizing an international academic workshop on ‘Global Land Grabbing’ to be held on 6-8 April 2011 at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

"This workshop is the first in the world to explicitly discuss the implications of the water/food/land deals nexus," according to Martin Keulertz, Department of Geography, King’s College London

‘In order to feed a growing population with an increasing standard of living, the price of water and food must continue to rise."

European pension funds are investing in global farmland, with a focus on emerging markets. If political problems arise, “You'll have the World Bank on your side,” SilverStreet's chief investment officer said.

Ingleby Agricultura, controlled by the Rausing family, paid EUR 8.2mn for purchasing 2,000ha of arable land in Western Romania from Danish company FirstFarms

Atlas Farming, which had successful farming ventures in Zimbabwe from the late 1960s until president Robert Mugabe's much criticised land reforms around 2000, has partnered with Chayton Capital to invest in large-scale farming in Zambia.

The Government has ordered 2000 squatters out of land meant for large-scale paddy farming in Kilombero district, Morogoro region.

"Le pari (des financiers), au départ, était un peu le même que celui du private equity dans le monde industriel : dénicher un gisement de croissance largement sous-exploité ; le faire fructifier à l'aide d'investissements considérables et un suivi attentif ; obtenir en peu de temps des rendements sans égal – on espérait jusqu'à 400% sur les friches africaines ; décrocher la timbale, non sans redistribuer un peu et rembourser les emprunts."

Foreigners have an interest (partial or total ownership) in 1.6 percent of all privately held US agricultural land, a 1.4 million acre increase from 2007.

Almost half the farmland bought in Britain last year was snapped up by banks and funds.