Congo Republic wants to amend the terms of a multi-million hectare land deal with South African farmers, a top aide told Reuters on Wednesday, saying the current accord would deprive its own farmers of land.
The Government of Thailand has uncovered evidence suggesting foreigners could have obtained illegal ownership of about 10,000 rai (1,600 ha) of farmland in the central region and employed farmers to grow crops there.
Egypt's Beltone Private Equity and Sudan's Kenana Sugar Company have agreed to set up a firm to invest up to $1 billion in large-scale agriculture projects in both countries, Beltone said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hancock Agricultural Investment Group, a Boston-based unit of Toronto's Manulife Financial Corp., decided its first Canadian purchase would be an 1,100-acre (450-hectare) patch of land that it called "one of the most highly productive properties in the industry." The company will not disclose how much it paid, or even the exact location of the farm. But president Jeff Conrad said the company is in Canada to stay, and the fund plans to seek more land.
Laos has approached Thailand as a partner in a joint venture with Kuwait to grow rice in Laos. The Lao government has allocated 200,000ha.
EBF, which Agriterra will acquire, has land holdings of more than 169,000 hectares in Liberia, West Africa.
Thailand is poised to establish joint ventures with Gulf states to secure rice, processed agricultural products and food supplies for the oil-rich countries. But the government has reiterated that foreigners will not be allowed to invest in farming and livestock businesses in Thailand.
L’accaparement des terres des petits paysans par des grandes entreprises nationales et étrangères devient un sujet de plus en plus révoltant au Mali.
As financiers seek to diversify their fee bases, investment banks are scenting an opportunity in Gulf states’ eagerness to secure long-term food supplies in the form of agricultural investment deals.
The recently signed $800 million United States dollars Concession contract between the government of Liberia and the multinational conglomerate, Sime Darby, is raising questions in counties to be affected.
"In any resource sector, if you want to get involved, you always want to be in the upstream. It doesn't matter whether it's mining, whether its oil and gas or agriculture," says ABN AMRO's Tariono.
Islamabad instead of allowing foreigners control of local agri-land should use twenty million acres of government land to settle 2 million families by allotting ten acres land to each family
