Archive for May, 2010

Middle Eastern Food (In)Security

Via Seed Daily, an ominous report on the status of Middle Eastern food security.  As the article notes: “…The scramble by Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states to secure strategic food supplies by buying up vast tracts of farmland in Africa and Asia won’t be enough to stave off a surge of food imports […]

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A Civilized And Equitable Land Grab?

Via Change.org, an interesting report on the $16 billion agricultural zone that Singapore currently plans to develop in northeastern China, as part of the tiny country’s plans to shore up its own food security.  As the article notes: “…As Jina wrote earlier this morning, the unsettling sight of wealthier nations buying up swaths of Africa […]

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Ukraine: Black Earth and Red Tape

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on the wave of investment into Ukraine’s agricultural sector.  As the article notes: “…Even in Europe’s most depressed large economy, there are a few shafts of commercial light. Ukraine, where gross domestic product fell last year by a whopping 15 per cent, is witnessing a flurry of investment […]

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Putting Money Out To Pasture…

Via DTN’s Progressive Farmer, a look at the growing frenzy among pension and fund managers, investment bankers and some of the world’s largest farmers around one of the hottest institutional investment opportunities – farmland – based on the belief that global food demand will double by 2050 and skepticism that seed companies and agribusiness can […]

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Pinstripes, Pitchforks, Politics, and Profits

Via Reuters, an interesting report on the politics of global agriculture, mainly from the perspective of the bankers and investment managers who are responsible for some of the recent flurry of interest in overseas acquisitions.  As the article notes: “…Many firms in Boston’s financial district invest in things you can’t touch: currency futures, index options, […]

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About This Blog And Its Author
Seeds Of A Revolution is committed to defining the disruptive geopolitics of the global Farms Race.  Due to the convergence of a growing world population, increased water scarcity, and a decrease in arable land & nutrient-rich soil, a spike of international investment interest in agricultural is inevitable and apt to bring a heretofore domestic industry into a truly global realm.  Whether this transition involves global land leases or acquisitions, the fundamental need for food & the protectionist feelings this need can give rise to is highly likely to cause such transactions to move quickly into the geopolitical realm.  It is this disruptive change, and the potential for a global farms race, that Seeds Of A Revolution tracks, analyzes, and forecasts.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has long held a keen interest in natural resource policy and the geopolitical implications of anticipated stresses in the areas of freshwater scarcity, biodiversity reserves & parks, and farm land.  Monty has lived, worked, and traveled in more than forty countries spanning Africa, China, western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast & Central Asia, and his personal interests comprise economic development, policy, investment, technology, natural resources, and the environment, with a particular focus on globalization’s impact upon these subject areas.  Monty writes about freshwater scarcity issues at www.waterpolitics.com and frontier investment markets at www.wildcatsandblacksheep.com.