Philippines

"It appears that offering our lands to foreign investors has always figured in the official agenda of Arroyo’s numerous state visits to other countries since assuming office, presumably in line with her "2 million hectares agribusiness development program," Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano of the Philippines said

The wheat farms in Sudan & Uganda are not Egypt’s first foray into overseas farming — the government operates a corn farm in Zambia, a rice farm in Niger, a vegetable farm in Tanzania and plans 14 more farms across Africa — but they are significant because they are among the first efforts to address wheat scarcity after the instability of 2008.

“The sell-out of vast tracts of agricultural lands to local and foreign agribusinesses and land-use conversion are now elevated as state policies.”

Two House of Representatives committees were urged to conduct a joint investigation into the alleged anomalous lease contracts granted to Japanese and Korean investors involving vast tracks of lands in Northern Luzon and Mindoro provinces.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry is backing the government’s policy of allowing foreign investments in the country’s big plantations, as long as the investors do not violate Philippine laws.

"We would also like to know why this government has been so aggressive in pushing these lease deals of our farmlands to the rich countries," Philippines Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said.

“It is the height of stupidity for our country to bargain our lands for the sake of other nation’s food security, while being dependent on importation for our very own food security needs,” says Rafael Mariano

"Why should we prioritize the production of corn to feed animals in Korea when we cannot even feed all the Filipino people?" asked Arze Glipo, lead convenor of the Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS). Think about that.

Regierungen und Investmentfonds erwerben in Afrika und Asien Ackerland, um Nahrungsmittel anzubauen – ein lohnendes Geschäft, weil die Preise rasch steigen. Das Milliarden-Monopoly führt zu einem modernen Kolonialismus, dem sich viele arme Länder notgedrungen unterwerfen.

One of the objectives of the caravan is to send the Asian peasants’ strong message against global land grabbing and inspire other peasants worldwide.

In the Philippines, who is monitoring & regulating these deals? Are they violating people’s rights enshrined in our laws? Will communities succumb to vague promises of jobs & infrastructures? Will the deals really trigger economic growth?

A South Korean provincial government has leased a major plot of farmland in Mindoro to grow corn