Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital is investing in 210,000 ha of farmland in Sudan, where it got the right to the land for 99 years.

An Afro-Arab agriculture conference on farm investment, which was to take place in Zanzibar, has been cancelled due to the Tanzanian governmnt's 11th hour refusal to host it.

The Solvent Extractors Association, the Indian oilseeds industry body, has formed a consortium of 18 companies to acquire 10,000 hectares of prime farmland in a $40-million deal in Uruguay and Paraguay to cultivate oilseeds and pulses. The association says they are hamstrung only by access to finance, otherwise they have it all sewn up.

IRRI is not involved in any projects on land acquisition for rice production, nor does it provide advice on land acquisition, but it does find ways to help increase the overall rice supply

Key areas of investment interest from pension and sovereign wealth funds in UK, Middle East, Europe and the US include agriculture land in Australia, South and North America, and throughout Europe.

As part of its policy of food security, Abu Dhabi acquired 30,000 hectares of land last June through its development fund to grow alfalfa, which is used to feed cattle, and other crops such as corn.

Small scale farmers have accused the Kenyan Government of failing to act to address persistent food insecurity. They also opposed the leasing of agricultural land to foreigners.

"We have acquired a very large piece of agricultural land in the Nile Delta – a 15,000 sq km tract of land where we will be producing for international markets, including the Arab World."

He owns land eight times the size of Mumbai, most of it in distant Ethiopia. His company, Karuturi Global, figures among the top 25 agri transnational corporations. But he wants more -- to break into the top 10 and rub shoulders with the likes of ConAgro and Cargill.

Ramakrishna Karuturi does not feature on any international power list. Perhaps he should.

In a bid to boost rice production, the government of Anambra is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnam Africa Agricultural Development Company (VAADC) to begin mechanised production of rice.

While Cargill says it is committed to sustainable and responsible palm oil production across its three plantations in PNG, the firm has been targeted by local and international NGOs, which claim it has polluted rivers and deceived local communities into signing agreements they do not understand.