The UAE is actively looking at acquiring farmland in Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and South America in an effort to ensure the availability of food stocks, according to the UAE Minister of Economy.

Gobal fund manager Schroders is launching an Agricultural Land Fund, only months after closing its USD 6 billion Alternative Solutions Agriculture Fund due to excessive investor demand.

A consortium of 15 Saudi Arabian investors is ready to take part in the Merauke Integrated Rice Estate (MIRE), injecting at least Rp600 billion ($65.04 million) into the region. The Agriculture Ministry's Secretary General, Hasanuddin Ibrahim, said each investor wanted to open about 5,000 to 10,000 hectares of land in Merauke, Papua.

The fund’s strategy is to own and manage funds which operate in largely unsubsidised farming countries and are among the lowest cost producers of their chosen commodity or livestocks.

Schroder Investment Management is planning to launch an Agricultural Land fund, aimed at exploiting the long term returns from agricultural land brought on by the growing demand on its use and productivity.

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A senior Ministry of Agriculture official on Thursday dismissed foreign media reports about China hoarding overseas farmland, saying the country is fully capable of ensuring its own food security.

Chinese investors, who have lately gained a strong presence in Kenya’s telecoms and heavy industry, are now eyeing the country’s farmland as a source of useful raw materials and employment opportunity

Dexion Capital prepares to raise $270 million for a private equity fund which will invest in land, and operate cattle and crop farms around the world.

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is expanding its Abu Dhabi office tenfold to broker deals with farmers in such areas as the Horn of Africa.

China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) was drafting policies to encourage domestic companies to rent or buy land abroad for farming, especially for planting soy bean, the EO learned. The MOA had identified five regions, including Central Asia, Russia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America, for five major Chinese state-owned farming companies to invest in.

Both public and private sector investors in the Gulf are also looking at ways to improve local food supplies, by investing in a range of outlets from arable farm land in the Sudan, Algeria and Pakistan to introduce new technology to enhance the local production of foodstuffs and grains, livestock, poultry and fish.

Beijing is adding agricultural investments to its “go outward” strategy, under which domestic businesses are encouraged to venture into foreign markets.

China has taken a lead in efforts to boost Africa’s farm production, putting pressure on GCC states to also find long-term solutions for food supply in Africa

Bangladesh urged Myanmar on Thursday to lease it farm land near the border for rice cultivation to meet its growing food demand, an official said.