Archive for October, 2015

The Myth of the African Land Grab
October 20th, 2015

Via Foreign Policy, an interesting commentary on foreign investment in African farmland: Over the past few years, the media has breathlessly chronicled anAfrican land rush of mind-boggling scale and audacity. Highlights have included the handover of over 300,000 hectares of Ethiopia to a singleIndian company and a notorious incident in which Madagascar announced the transfer of nearly half […]

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Land “Grabbing” Grows As Agricultural Resources Dwindle
October 13th, 2015

Via the Worldwatch Institute, a new report on the increasing tendency – as global agricultural resources shrink or shift – for countries to cross borders to obtain new farmlands: Since 2000, more than 36 million hectares—an area about the size of Japan—has been purchased or leased by foreign entities, mostly for agricultural use. Today, nearly 15 […]

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Selling The Farm
October 2nd, 2015

Via The Economist, an interesting look at the prospect of foreign ownership of two giant Australian agri-businesses causing alarm Down Under: THE bare expanse of Anna Creek cattle station (as Australians call ranches) belies its strategic attraction to investors. Straddling the river plains of the state of South Australia, and reputed to be the world’s biggest […]

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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.