Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund agricultural company launched Hassad Australia last year, aimed at ensuring that livestock and grain needs for Qatar, from Australian farmland, are met.

Recently, Kanayo Nwanze, head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, told a news conference: "It is the wrong language to call them land grabs. They are investments in farmland--like investments in oil exploration."

Companies from the kingdom are meeting with representatives of the state of Western Australia to discuss buying equity in farms and investing in the wheat supply chain.

Members of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development , undeterred by low world wheat prices, plan a fresh wave of deals to lease farmland abroad,

Saudi Arabian investors are looking at opportunities to buy into farmland in Algeria, says the Saudi Agriculture Minister.

After trumpeting Chinese investment in "a very large agricultural project" in the Bahamas that would be up and running by September, senior government officials are now backing off the subject.

If the UN is serious about ending hunger then it must heed its own advice, stop the advance of agribusiness in Africa and implement food sovereignty immediately, says Friends of the Earth.

Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) mengatakan program food estate di Merauke, Papua akan memberikan empat kerugian implikasi.

Nnimmo Bassey from Nigeria said that these principles legitimize a new form of colonialism with grave dangers for millions of local livelihoods and the environment.

Friends of the Earth International warns that voluntary principles on land acquisitions announced by the World Bank and supported by the UN will legitimize and promote land grabbing in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

European Union governments want to develop a global code of conduct for foreign investments in agricultural land in developing countries, according to a draft paper on food security seen by Reuters.

Saudi Arabia is attempting to strengthen its position in what seems certain to be a growing competition for food among the nations of the Middle East.