farmlandgrab.org | Latest posts

Africa almost giving land away, says UN
- Financial Times
- 24 May 2009
African countries are giving away vast tracts of farmland to other countries and investors almost for free, according to a report published by IIED, IFAD and FAO
Sudan seeks investors for $45bn farm projects
- Reuters
- 24 May 2009
The Sudanese capital state of Khartoum has $45 billion worth of agricultural projects that are available for investors, Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported on Sunday, quoting a senior official. One of the projects is worth $500 million and consists of tendering 2,100 sq km of farmland west of Omdurman.
Any lessons for Ghana in India’s jatropha failure?
- Ghana Business News
- 23 May 2009
A Norwegian company, ScanFuel Ltd., says its Ghanaian unit has contracted about 400,000 hectares of land, with up to 60 percent reserved for biofuel production, “not less” than 30 percent for food production and the remainder for biodiversity buffer zones.
Saudi's Tabuk signs deals for food investment abroad
- Reuters
- 23 May 2009
Saudi agricultural company Tabuk Agricultural Development Co has started preparations to invest in food production abroad, driving up its stock.
Republic of Congo goes farming for, well, farmers
- Wall Street Journal
- 23 May 2009
For a growing number of South African farmers, the Republic of Congo is the Promised Land. They’re scrambling to get on board an ambitious venture to reclaim farmland in Congo’s interior and help relieve that country of a reliance on food imports. Already some 70 farmers have booked a Congo tour and more than 3,000 have expressed interest, said Agri-SA, the South African farming group organizing the venture.
Buying farmland abroad: Outsourcing's third wave
- The Economist
- 21 May 2009
Rich food importers are acquiring vast tracts of poor countries' farmland. Is this beneficial foreign investment or neocolonialism?
Russia's billion-dollar plan to secure poultry sector
- Reuters
- 21 May 2009
Russia, its appetite for cheap poultry meat growing, is spending billions of dollars developing its poultry farms to slash its dependence on imports and squeeze U.S. suppliers from their biggest export market.
Arab investors keen on Mindanao agri prospects
- Philippine Information Agency
- 21 May 2009
A 23-member delegation composed of government and private sector representatives from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) headed by its Minister of Agriculture was recently on a mission here to explore investment opportunities in agriculture.
Mideast grabs land elsewhere
- CNN
- 21 May 2009
CNN's John Defterios takes a look at how Middle Eastern countries are scouring the globe for farmland.
Technology and land grabs: Redefining peasantry in Africa
- The Ghanian Journal
- 20 May 2009
I came across the word “peasant” as a small boy in 1979. That was my second year of learning the English language when government Census officials came knocking on our door in Western Kenya armed with two big English words I had never heard before; “Occupation” and “Peasant!”
NGOs cry foul over rich-country ‘land grab’ in developing world
- Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest
- 20 May 2009
A recent jump in rich country land purchases in the developing world has caught the attention of analysts in trade and human rights circles.
Rufiji interviews: what do they know about SEKAB
- Riches of the Poor
- 20 May 2009
The people who have agreed to give out their land for free to SEKAB have been mislead by unrealistic promises
IISD: A thirst for distant lands
- International Institute for Sustainable Development
- 20 May 2009
"A Thirst for Distant Lands: Foreign investment in agricultural land and water" provides a synopsis of current trends in the expansion of foreign investment in agriculture.
Commercial pressures on land: Rethinking policies and practice for development
- CDS
- 19 May 2009
A conference in Utrecht on 8 July 2009
Egypt to start wheat farms in northern Uganda
- The New Vision
- 19 May 2009
The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation is planning to set up model farms in Uganda. So far, one site of 200 hectares suitable for wheat growing has already been identified at Labora, Koro sub-county in Gulu district.