Speaking freely: China's eye on African agriculture

• Asia Times
• 01 October 2009

China's agricultural investments strategies in Africa are not as self-serving as some critics argue.

The FSN Forum invites interested parties to an online discussion on farmland acquisitions

• FAO
• 01 October 2009

The discussion “Land Grab or Development opportunity?” has just been launched at by FAO's Global Food Security and Nutrition Forum and invites members to comment and share their views on the issue of foreign acquisitions of developing countries’ farmland.

Indonesia to restrict foreign investment in food sector

• Reuters
• 01 October 2009

The government is preparing a regulation which will put some restrictions on foreign investment in the food industry, including on the length of the investment, and the joint ownership with local firms.

S.Africa farmers to conclude Congo, Libya land deals

• Reuters
• 30 September 2009

AgriSA expects to sign a 35,000 hectare land deal with the Libyan government in October.

Congo farm land deal seen finalised in October: union

• Reuters
• 30 September 2009

A multi-million hectare land deal allowing South Africans to farm in the Republic of Congo is expected to be finalised by mid October, South Africa's main farmers union said on Wednesday.

No land deal with any country, food ministry tells LHC

• Dawn
• 30 September 2009

The proposals for farmland acquisitions by countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar are at a pre-feasibility stage and no commitment has been made so far, the government of Pakistan told the High Court of Lahore

Saudi Arabia eyes special relationship with RI: Envoy

• Jakarta Post
• 30 September 2009

“Our people have already surveyed several areas to choose the right place for planting basmati rice. The investment will be huge,” says Ambassador Khayyat.

TCC gives farmers 2 years to quit land

• Bangkok Post
• 30 September 2009

The TCC Group's move to terminate the farmers' leases comes amid increased concerns that foreign firms are taking a controlling interest in rice farms in Thailand's central provinces.

Food security deals alarm ex-WTO head

• Gulf Times
• 30 September 2009

“I would say to friends in the [Gulf] region that this is not the way to get food security because the opposite will happen”, the former director-general of the World Trade Organisation told Gulf Times yesterday.

Hearing against sale of land to foreigners put off

• Daily Times
• 30 September 2009

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif postponed until October 6 the hearing of a petition challenging the proposed sale or lease of millions of acres of agriculture land to foreign countries.

Promoting responsible international investment in agriculture

• MOFA
• 29 September 2009

The Government of Japan, with the World Bank, FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD, try to initiate a coordinated global response to the growing land grabbing trend at the UN

Egypt's Citadel to invest $200-$400 mln in 2010

• Reuters
• 29 September 2009

Citadel, which also announced on Tuesday that it was investing in 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares) of farmland in Sudan, is also looking to potential investments elsewhere in Africa: Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia.

Egypt firm says investing in Sudanese farmland

• Reuters
• 29 September 2009

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.

L'esplosione del farmland grab

• Liberal
• 29 September 2009

Dar won't host major conference

• The Citizen
• 29 September 2009

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.