Prime Minister John Key yesterday warned of other potential foreign buyers of large tracts of New Zealand farmland lining up behind the Hong Kong company bidding for the Crafar farms as his Government signalled a new focus on overseas investment rules.

Hedge funds and bankers are buying everything from farmland to mines across the Global South. Mark L Thomas looks at how speculators here fuel exploitation half a world away

Investors in farmland are targeting countries with weak laws, buying arable land on the cheap and failing to deliver on promises of jobs and investments, according to the draft of a report by the World Bank.

The New Zealand Government has signalled it is unlikely to change overseas investment rules to make it easier for land to be sold to foreigners.

New Zealand's Green Party has drafted a bill seeking to stop overseas buyers snapping up large tracts of NZ land. Australian farmers also fear they may have trouble coping with future food and water demands if foreign interests snap up too many of the nation's agricultural resources.

Critics say Australia's Labor party has failed to come to grips with country's future food security, including the acquisition of domestic farmland by foreign investors

A group of food security advocates wants a Philippine government-led corporation that identifies new land suitable for local and foreign agricultural businesses abolished.

This Bill is designed to retain ownership and control of sensitive land within New Zealand.

As the world's available farming land shrinks in the face of population growth, climate change and soil degradation, Australia's vast tracts of land are going to be increasingly important for global food security. Is the sell-off in Australia's long term interests?

Foreign interests including state-owned companies from China and the Middle East are increasingly looking to Australia to secure their food production by purchasing key agricultural assets.

UAE-based investment company Al Barakah has shown interest in developing agriculture and farming projects in Bulgaria.

Africa's untapped agriculture potential make it an ideal partner for resource-constrained Middle Eastern countries that seek to improve their food security, a new report from Standard Chartered Bank said.