Via Foreign Policy In Focus, some commentary on how the steady track towards stability and prosperity that China and most developing countries seem to be on is driven by a new form of self-reliance: Renowned American journalist Robert D. Kaplan warned the West that, in the light of the quick deterioration of the arable land quality […]
Read more »Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on a prohibited land sale in Australia: A government ban on foreign investors buying a pioneering dynasty’s collection of cattle ranches has scuttled Australia’s biggest land sale, an official said on Friday. The government announced on Thursday it had barred foreigners from buying S. Kidman & Co. […]
Read more »Courtesy of the New York Times, an article on TIAA-CREF’s forays into the Brazilian agriculture: As an American investment giant that manages the retirement savings of millions of university administrators, public school teachers and others, TIAA-CREF prides itself on upholding socially responsible values, even celebrating its role in drafting United Nations principles for buying farmland that promote transparency, environmental […]
Read more »Via Bloomberg, a report on Saudi Arabia’s plans to import all the wheat needed for 2016 consumption beacause aquifers used to irrigate crops are depleting rapidly: Cultured farms in sit in Saudi Arabia. For decades, only a few features punctuated the vastness of the Saudi desert: oil wells, oases — and wheat fields. Despite torrid weather […]
Read more »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 […]
Read more »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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