Oakland Institute

The combined force of the US based Oakland Institute's research and advocacy on African land deals and local, democratic activism in South Sudan has effectively stalled plans for the largest land deal in the area.

Selon l'institut d'Oakland, environ 200.000 personnes pourraient être déplacées des 350.000 hectares loués dans le sud-ouest de l'Ethiopie depuis 2008.

Pambazuka News spoke to Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau about what prompted their research on large-scale investments in land in Africa and what they discovered.

African farmers do need investment and support. They desperately need decent roads and access to local markets, processing equipment to add value to their own diverse farm produce, storage and drying facilities to prevent post-harvest losses, and basic amenities such as schools and health centres and water wells to improve rural lives, so that farming communities can thrive. But foreign investors are not in business to provide any of these things.

Après les Etats et les entreprises étrangères, les grandes facultés d’outre-Atlantique investissent massivement sur le continent noir. Et les paysans locaux n’en bénéficient guère.

« Certains investisseurs racontent qu'il est très facile d'acquérir une terre, qu'ils peuvent avoir généralement ce qu'ils veulent en donnant une bouteille de Johny Walker au chef de tribu et en lui promettant des emplois et du progrès, promesses qui ne sont pas tenues » s'indigne Anuradha Mittal, directeur d'Oakland Institute.

Hedge funds are behind "land grabs" in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, a US think-tank says

Foreign speculators are increasing price volatility and supply insecurity in the global food system, according to a series of investigative reports released today by the Oakland Institute.

Anuradha Mittal talks about land grabbing

The International Financial Corporation has actually increased the ability of foreign investors to acquire land in developing country markets by promoting profitable deals, creating “investment promotion agencies” and rewriting national laws., says Anuradha Mittal

While the Bank warns of a lack of transparency and the potential harm to poor people, it ultimately endorses the land grabs in the name of productivity and sound investment.

Since the food crisis of 2008, food justice activists have warned that governments in concert with multinational corporations have accelerated a worldwide "land grab" to buy up vast swaths of arable land in poor countries.