More and more of Africa's farmland is being bought up by private companies and countries. But should this trend be welcomed as much-needed foreign investment or is it a new form of colonialism? Join the Riz Khan show on Al Jazeera Thursday 19 November 2009.
The 450 civil society organisations taking part in a parallel forum were not won over by FAO's optimism about a code of conduct. "Land grabbing by external capital must stop," read a declaration by participants at the forum.
Varias ONG acusaron a las multinacionales del sector alimentario de intentar hacerse con millones de hectáreas de tierras de buena calidad pertenecientes a pequeños campesinos del Tercer Mundo, durante la cumbre de la FAO sobre la seguridad alimentaria que se celebra en Roma.
El Foro Alternativo a la FAO clama contra los países ricos que acaparan las tierras de las naciones en vías de desarrollo
"Personnellement je ne vois pas ce que les petits producteurs peuvent gagner avec des investissements privés étrangers de masse." Un entretien avec Moussa Djiré.
The French farming minister warned these "predatory investments" prevented countries from feeding themselves. Al Jazeera reports.
Across the street from the conference, human rights and farmers' groups protested sporadically throughout the three days. Small farmers' groups put on street theatre, re-enacting scenes of land-grabbing by foreign companies, with thugs bearing sticks pretending to threaten the small land owners.
The UN and the World Bank are walking a tightrope in drawing up a code of conduct for farmland deals as they do not want to undermine investor confidence. Campaigners call such "win-win" codes "a nonsense".
Arabia Saudita, Corea, China, Japón y otros concentran tierras “baratas” en países del sur
Los efectos de la apropiación de tierras agrícolas por corporaciones y capitales extranjeros bajo la lupa, en vísperas de la conferencia mundial de la FAO sobre soberanía alimentaria
And now the bad news. FAO has taken a U-turn in its clear position on the race by food-importing countries and private companies to buy land overseas for domestic food and agriculture needs.
Land grabbing by transnational capital must stop.
"Already we have received a lot of interest from the UAE to invest in Ukraine's agriculture sector, and we are offering all kinds of projects such as leasing of 100,000 hectares of land to the creation of animal farms with 3000 cows," Ukraine's agriculture minister said.
Jannat has a target of securing 100,000 to 215,000 hectares of land abroad, including $100m in African investments, says Mohammed Abdulla al-Rajhi, chairman of Jannat and deputy chairman of Tadco.
El actual acaparamiento global de las tierras cultivables, donde la inversión extranjera toma el control de la tierra y el agua en los países en desarrollo, no tiene nada que ver con el fortalecimiento de la agricultura familiar y los mercados locales, que a nuestro juicio es la única manera de avanzar para lograr sistemas alimentarios que alimenten a la gente. Debe ser inmediatamente detenido.
