farmlandgrab.org | Latest posts

Still sound reasons to cultivate agriculture
- Financial Times
- 26 April 2009
So does this mean farming might now be a good place to make money? Some investors certainly think so, according to ETF Securities.
Saudi Arabia looks to foreign farmlands to feed itself
- Dawn
- 26 April 2009
The issue of food security is getting higher on Riyadh’s priority list.
Learning tricks of the trade
- Gulf News
- 25 April 2009
Some Gulf countries may now be realising the importance of offering direct loans to African countries as a means to increase Arab investment.
Pakistan woos investors from UAE
- Khaleej Times
- 24 April 2009
"Pakistan has finalised plans to offer ownership of agricultural lands to investors for farming, and is targeting investors from the UAE and other Gulf countries to help with their own food resources."
Food follies
- National Interest
- 24 April 2009
The Federal Minister of Investment in Pakistan, Waqar Ahmed Khan, said this week that the government plans to sell or lease 1 million acres of farmland to foreign investors, primarily from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. Although the news has yet to gain much coverage, if carried out it could punctuate growing unrest and frustration, given Pakistan’s limited amount of arable land and population of more than 170 million.
Foreign investors eye rural targets
- The Australian
- 24 April 2009
The debate over foreign investment is set to expand from the mining industry to agriculture as overseas investors pour billions of dollars into Australian rural properties considered by some to be strategic national assets.
Disputes erupt over plans to invest millions in rice farming
- The Economist
- 23 April 2009
It seemed like the perfect match. Kuwait has a lot of money and needs to import food. Cambodia has a lot of fertile land and wants to attract foreign capital.
Saudis renew search for food security
- Oxford Analytica
- 23 April 2009
GCC countries' initiatives to safeguard food security by investing in agricultural projects abroad had stalled, illustrated by the Saudi Bin Laden Group's decision to postpone a planned $4.3-billion investment in Indonesian rice production.
Food importers may increase overseas farm purchases
- Bloomberg
- 23 April 2009
Food-importing nations from South Korea to Saudi Arabia may step up purchases or leases of overseas farmland to lock in supplies amid concern prices may again surge. “We’re going to see more of this, especially from countries that are quite dependent on imports,” Brady Sidwell, head of advisory at Rabobank Groep NV’s Northeast Asia Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory Group, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast today.
Saudi Arabia - Plan to ensure food security on right path
- MENAFN
- 23 April 2009
The issue of land ownership in Africa is very sacred and foreign investors need to be aware of the local sensitivities.
Food, Water, Energy, Timber, Population: Do Madagascar’s Forests Stand a Chance?
- The New Security Beat
- 23 April 2009
The International Criminal Court’s indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for human-rights abuses has not deterred Saudi Arabia’s Hail Agricultural Development Co. from developing 9,200 hectares of land in Sudan or the UAE from investing in agricultural projects in several Sudanese provinces, including a 17,000-hectare farm for wheat and corn.
Solving threat of hunger for rich may starve the poor
- Saudi Gazette
- 23 April 2009
The problem of food security poses a real threat to global stability. Meeting in Italy last weekend, agriculture ministers of the G8 industrialized countries recognized the extent of the problem. They pledged to continue fighting hunger. But beyond calling for increased public and private investment in agriculture, the final communiqué of the ministerial meeting was short on fresh proposals.
La diplomatie agricole du "Guide"
- Africa Intelligence
- 23 April 2009
"Il n'y a pas de liberté pour une société qui mange au-delà de ses frontières". Le colonel Kadhafi applique à la lettre ce principe du Livre vert.
Land grab: The race for the world's farmland
- Islam Online
- 22 April 2009
With increasing frequency, wealthy, food-importing countries as well as the private sector are investing in farmland overseas. This conference examines the patterns and motivations of such investment, considers the implications for investors, host countries, and food security, and features case studies from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.
Pakistan land for rent
- Islam Online
- 22 April 2009
A cash-strapped Pakistani government plans to sell or rent one million acre land to foreign countries for agricultural purposes in a bid to underpin the country’s troubled economy. “A complete legal cover will be provided to the investors so that even in case of the change of government, they should not be affected.”