The World Bank has backed the controversial practice of countries selling large tracts of agricultural land to overseas investors but is urging vendors to demand much more to increase their farming productivity and peoples’ livelihoods.

A new World Bank report says volatility in food prices has been a key factor behind a rising tide of large scale farmland purchases in the developing world, which can pose social and environment risks, if not well managed.

Indian companies are increasingly getting a foothold into South America, acquiring assets and land not just to get entry into its lucrative agricultural market but also to export commodities such as sugar, pulses and edible oils back to India.

HLH Agriculture is a Singaporean firm running 10,000 ha project in Cambodia to produce corn for export to Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.

Abu Dhabi finalises scheme to purchase 29,400 hectares of land in Sudan

Michael Burry, the former hedge-fund manager who predicted the US housing market’s plunge, said he is investing in farmland. “I believe that agriculture land -- productive agricultural land with water on site -- will be very valuable in the future.”

The World Bank report on land grabbing, entitled 'Rising Global Interest in Farmland – Can it yield sustainable and equitable benefits?', will finally be released on 8 September 2010.

Egypt's government signed a deal to allow Egyptian companies access to 400,000 hectares of farm land in Sudan, the first deal of its kind between the two countries

As global wheat prices rise, Africans are feeling the pinch when buying something as simple as bread. Mozambique bread riots could be a warning sign for African nations who have leased fertile agricultural land to foreign countries.

A conference organised by the East Africa Legislative Assembly and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation has chided East African governments for leasing land to foreigners without the explicit consent of existing users

Taking a leaf out of the book of progressive farmers of the state who have made it big in South and Central American countries, the Punjab government is now exploring taking up land on lease in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico to grow foodgrain and export it for domestic consumption.

What India can learn from China is not its alarming passion for buying farmland in poor countries but its awareness of the value of agricultural land to meet the food needs of its citizens.