Chinese company presidents met with Australian officials and company reps in Sydney to discuss ag investments, ranging from a $25 million, 20,000 ha cotton farm to a $350 million farmland purchase in ­Western ­Australia and Queensland.

No evidence to support the idea that “China” was intending to create an agricultural colony in Mozambique, or make the Zambezi Valley into China’s rice bowl.

The level and manner of foreign investment in Australian agriculture is sounding alarm bells amid growing concern that the nation's own food security could be compromised.

Editor of Banking Magazine, El Tijani Hussein Al Khabeir, says that Sudan is capable of feeding one quarter of world population and five folds of Arab countries population

Foreigners currently have more than 700,000 ha of agricultural land in Romania, representing 8.5 percent of the arable land of the country, says Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Peasant movements concur that in the absence of control over their lands, real food sovereignty is impossible.

The Ethiopian government has miserably failed to engage and convince citizens about the present and long-term implications of farmland grabbing.

Bloomberg's Alan Katz reports on Morgan Stanley's farming venture on the steppes of Ukraine which it abandoned in July 2009. The failed gamble demonstrates how Wall Street firms, in the last gasp of a debt-fueled bull market, strayed further from their traditional businesses to embrace diverse projects with unfamiliar risks.

Shadow minister for agriculture and food security, John Cobb, said it was concerning that in the past three years there had been a 10-fold increase in foreign investment in ownership and control of agricultural supply lines.

The National Farmers Federation says the figures that show Australian farm land to be about 90 per cent locally owned is a small part of the picture. It's just one of three studies, with the others looking into the value of farm production.

New figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show more than 12 per cent of land used for agriculture in South Australia is owned by foreign interests.

According to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as at 31 December 2010, 89% of the nation's agricultural land was Australian owned.

As large-scale land purchases for food production become commonplace, the FAO is finalising a set of guidelines to help improve land-tenure governance and encourage transparency in deals.

The debate on large scale land acquisition in Tanzania is far from over as there is a changing dynamic now as local investors team up in joint venture with foreign investors and we are made to believe that since we have one of our own in the investment venture our interests are taken care of.

Argentina's Congress is gearing up for a debate on a bill to limit the amount of farmland foreigners can buy, amid a surge of interest in land deals triggered by rising food prices.

When it comes to famine in Africa, China seems an easy target for critics of its rising outbound investments.

Victims of land disputes nationwide are being encouraged to unite, as figures released yesterday highlighted the magnitude of what is often referred to as an “epidemic of land grabbing” in Cambodia.

Farmers have urged the state government to establish a register that would list Victorian farms that have been bought by foreign owners. The call comes as concerns grow over the level of foreign ownership of Australian farms and over the control of productive food resources.

The Committee on World Food Security at its meeting of October 2010 requested the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition to conduct a study on land tenure and international investments in agriculture and to present the findings at its next session in October 2011

PPF entry into Russian farming via Rav Agro-Pro acquisition affirms Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s confidence in his position there

Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives shadow minister Meshack Opurukwa has questioned a contract between the government of Tanzania and a US-based firm – Agrisol Energy – in which the latter is to acquire huge chunks of land in Rukwa region to produce food crops.

Not only collecting sweet potatoes in Vietnam, Chinese have also been coming to Vietnam, leasing land to grow sweet potatoes to export to third countries.

New Zealand’s relative isolation and high-priced property means the nation has missed out on a global grab for land, especially farms, despite rising public disquiet about such sales, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research says.

Overseas buyers may boost investment in agriculture assets in Australia, the fourth-biggest shipper of wheat, as they seek to secure supply to meet surging food demand, said Queensland Sugar Ltd. Chairman Alan Winney.

Romanian officials have started to express worries about an increasing number of foreign companies buying agricultural land in Romania.

"Ultimately, we want to see more, not less, investment in Australian agriculture for the benefit of our industry, but we need to be very clear about the motives," says Jock Laurie, head of Australia's National Farmers Federation

"You get a clash of sovereignties. You might take an individual to court or a corporation to court. But I think you'll be very concerned if you take a country to court especially when that country is far bigger than the one you live in," Australian Senator Joyce said.

Minister of Agriculture says Chinese government controlled company's acquisition of some of the Australia's richest food growing areas is too great a risk for the nation.

The buy-up of prime agricultural land by Shenhua has sparked a furious political debate in Australia

Local stock and station agents in Western District Australia estimate the Qatar government paid a premium of up to 20 per cent in order to secure the controversial deal,