Archive for January, 2023

The Socio-Environmental Challenges for China’s Palm Oil Business In Indonesia
January 31st, 2023

Via Melbourne Asia Review, an article on the socio-environmental challenges for China’s palm oil business in Indonesia On March 8, 2022, dozens of Indonesian contract farmers gathered in front of the local parliament building at Sintang, West Kalimantan, to protest against three palm oil companies. These contract farmers, also known as ‘plasma smallholders’, work under a scheme […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Socio-Environmental Challenges for China’s Palm Oil Business In Indonesia

New Legislation Requires More Transparency Around Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland
January 17th, 2023

Via Wisconsin Public Radio, an article on new legislation proposed by Senator Tammy Baldwin demanding more transparency around foreign ownership of U.S. farmland: A legislative win for Wisconsin’s U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin could mean more transparency around the foreign companies and people who own farmland in the United States. Under a 1978 law, foreign entities […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on New Legislation Requires More Transparency Around Foreign Ownership of U.S. Farmland

UAE Invests in Kurdistan’s Agriculture and Livestock Sectors
January 6th, 2023

Via Iraq Business News, a report on UAE’s planned agricultural investment in Kurdistan: The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Investment Board met with a delegation from the Emirati Al Abrar Company to discuss enhancing cooperation in the Kurdistan Region’s agriculture and livestock sectors. “In the past, we have we conducted more than 10 research projects in the Kurdistan […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on UAE Invests in Kurdistan’s Agriculture and Livestock Sectors

Why Are Saudi Farmers Pumping Arizona Groundwater?
January 5th, 2023

Via High Country News, an article on Saudi agribusiness company Fondomonte’s agreement to pump groundwater from Phoenix’s water reserves: In August, Arizona’s attorney general called for an investigation into a 2015 sweetheart deal between the Saudi agribusiness company Fondomonte and the Arizona State Land Department, which had allowed Fondomonte to lease desert farmland west of Phoenix at one-sixth […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Why Are Saudi Farmers Pumping Arizona Groundwater?

Brandenburg: New Law To Prevent Outside Investors From Buying Farmland
January 5th, 2023

Via Indo & NY, an article on Brandenburg’s Agriculture Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) desire to use a new law in 2023 to prevent investors from outside the industry from buying up a large part of the agricultural land: Brandenburg’s Agriculture Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) wants to use a new law in 2023 to prevent investors from […]

Read more »
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Brandenburg: New Law To Prevent Outside Investors From Buying Farmland

  | 
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.