Pakistan

Abu Dhabi’s Al Dahra Agricultural Company is halfway through a plan involving more than 60,700 hectares of farmland in Europe, the US, south Asia and north Africa to boost the UAE’s food security.

State-backed food producing and marketing giant, Hassad Food Company, has plans to produce rice in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

TADCO subsidiary has already arranged leases in Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines for export production of aromatic and long grain basmati rice.

Hassad Food Company intends to invest $500mn to $700mn this year for projects across the world as part of its mission to ensure food security for Qatar, chairman and managing director Nasser bin Mohamed Mubarak al-Fuhaid al-Hajri has said.

Between 2007 and mid-2008, Gulf states and their government-backed businesses spent US$15 billion (Dh55bn) in sub-Saharan Africa alone, much of it in the drive for food security

The UAE has embarked on an overseas investment spree to ensure domestic food security in a country with miniscule arable area -- a spree that will only grow

Pakistan’s ambassador to the Kingdom has called on Saudis to invest in his country’s agricultural sector.

An upcoming World Bank (WB) report aims at giving legitimate cover to agricultural land grabbing in Pakistan.

"A key obstacle to more transparent debate and informed decisions by governments and investors [involved in global land transactions] is the lack of science-based information," writes Surendra Shah in Nature magazine

Two years ago, the Sarhad Chamber of Agriculture, NWFP, Pakistan was contacted by investors from the Gulf states through a letter showing interest in acquiring farmlands on lease under the corporate farming being introduced by the government.

Reports indicate that the Gulf States have acquired more than 150,000 hectares of land in Balochistan near Mirani Dam to begin mechanised farming.

The worldwide financial crisis has reportedly stalled several agricultural deals between Gulf countries and overseas partners, including two between Bahrain and Pakistan.