farmlandgrab.org

English

Qatar earmarks $1b for Mindanao projects
- Manila Standard
- 17 December 2008
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap noted that Qatar is looking for about 100,000 hectares of land for food production.
Africa’s silver lining
- FDI Magazine
- 17 December 2008
“Now we are facing the food crisis. Madagascar can have a lot to offer on this: we have land, we are using less than 10% of arable land in Madagascar. The big foreign investors can come in, work together with us. They will get good return on investment and we will get food for the population."
Pakistan: GoP finalises plan to offer ownership of agri lands to investors
- Daily Times
- 17 December 2008
The Pakistani government has finalised plans to offer ownership of agricultural lands to investors for farming to achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture produce, Federal Minister for Investment, Senator Waqar Ahmad Khan told Daily Times. “We are extremely enthusiastic in providing areas for farming with great incentives,” he added.
Arabs to buy WA land?
- Farm Weekly
- 17 December 2008
Agriculture Department denies a recent WA trade delegation visit to several Middle Eastern countries was to promote selling WA agricultural land for grain and livestock.
Mitsui May Boost Farm Investment Overseas on Demand
- Bloomberg
- 16 December 2008
Mitsui & Co., Japan's second-largest trading company, may increase investment in farming overseas to secure food supplies as competition from China, the biggest grain consumer, intensifies. The company is seeking new targets after taking a 39.35 percent stake in Multigrain AG, which produces soybeans in Brazil, the world's second-largest grower.
Minister backs Arab farm deals
- The West
- 16 December 2008
Agriculture Minister Terry Redman says Western Australia should embrace moves by Arab interests in the Middle East to buy prime Wheatbelt farmland to secure their future food supplies. Two groups from the Middle East are due to visit the State early next year as they consider investments of up to $1 billion in cropping, sheep and dairy production in WA.
Global grain rush under way as rich nations snap up farmland overseas
- Chicago Tribune
- 14 December 2008
Just how much security the new land investments may provide countries and corporations remains uncertain, experts say. Future governments in countries now renting or selling land may well fail to abide by deals their predecessors cut, particularly if they face food or land shortages at home.
Ethiopia: Can foreign-owned farms solve food crisis?
- IPS
- 13 December 2008
The Ethiopian government’s ambitious target of harvesting 28 million tonnes of cereals in the first three quarters of the 2007/2008 budget year has failed. Authorities seem determined to change this situation by leasing huge chunks of land to other sovereign states for mechanised farming.
Mideast nations eye $1bln Australian cropland
- Reuters
- 12 December 2008
"They're not talking about $2 or $3 million, they're talking about $20 million to up to $1 billion of investment in big projects," Peter Metcalfe, the director of grain industry development for Western Australia, said in an interview.
Gulf nations eye farmland in Australia
- Reuters
- 12 December 2008
Middle Eastern countries flush with oil funds want to invest up to $1bn in Australian farmland as they extend a drive for food security to the world’s second-largest wheat exporter, a grains official said yesterday.
China and the great global landgrab
- Pambazuka
- 11 December 2008
Stephen Marks looks at the latest rush by China and countries in the middle east to sign lease agreements in poor countries for agricultural production, and what this trend means in terms of food security and access to arable land for local populations.
Binladin Group may invest $4.3 b on rice in Papua
- The Jakarta Post
- 08 December 2008
Saudi-based investment firm Binladin Group is mulling at investing on agriculture projects here worth an estimated US$4.3 billion, which will be spent within the course of 15 years, says an official.