UNCTAD is hosting a meeting on South-South cooperation in agricultural investment, where land grabbing is on the agenda
In the Democratic Republic of Congo —a desperately poor country whose abundance of natural resources has made it the site of a catastrophic regional proxy war in which 5 million lives have been lost— China has secured a lease for 50% more land than the entire nation devotes to growing corn, its staple food, for 66 million of its own people.
The cooperation will be in the establishment of rice farms by the Thais in Nigeria’s Free Trade Zones.
"Some progress has been achieved with some African countries" to create farmland investment opportunities, Saudi Industry & Trade Minister Abdullah bin Ahmad Zainal said. He added more talks would be held with countries in southern and eastern Africa, without being more specific.
Saudi Binladin has been trying for almost two years to persuade Indonesian smallholders to sell their land. Policy may need to be rethought.
Summary and proceedings of a discussion hosted by FAO from 29.09.09 to 20.10.09.
Qatar has embarked on a food-security programme to make it more self-sufficient and help the communities around its farmland projects in developing countries.
Baghdad has suggested that Gulf Cooperation Council countries invest in Iraq farms to help revive its agriculture and ensure the Gulf's food security locally.
Nigeria's House of Representatives passed a motion yesterday urging all tiers of government to be proactive against a new form of imperialism and land acquisition
"This apparent rush to lease so much farmland, much or all of it to foreign interests, during a time of worsening food insecurity should raise concern within the donor community about GoE motivations and negotiating capacity," writes the US embassy in Addis Ababa in December 2009
The outsourcing of food production in Africa by some Asian and Middle-Eastern countries will boost global stocks and may help stave off of future food crises, the World Bank says.
"On today's Human Rights Day, we demand that States fulfill their obligation to respect and protect the right to food of their citizens and abroad by preventing large scale land grabbing" says Sofia Monsalve of FIAN International.
