May 9th, 2022
Via Popular Mechanics, a report on the global sand crisis – which while not an agricultural producing resource – is a resource in demand (with 50B metric tons used in concrete and glass production annually) and around which mafia-style black markets are developing: The world is in crisis yet again. This time around, it’s a[…]
Read more »China’s Sets Its Eyes On World’s Last Frontier: The Ocean
April 29th, 2022
Via Nikkei Asia, a report on Beijing’s strategic efforts to reap the economic potential of the world’s oceans. A reminder that farms need not only be on the ground, but they may be within marine environments as well. Dealing with the Ukraine war and its evolving consequences, growing tensions in the Pacific, the still-unfolding disruption caused by[…]
Read more »April 29th, 2022
Via The Guardian, a report on how rising damage to our world’s land, caused mostly by food production, puts ability to feed planet’s growing population at risk: Human damage to the planet’s land is accelerating, with up to 40% now classed as degraded, while half of the world’s people are suffering the impacts, UN data[…]
Read more »Secret Acres: U.S. Soil Becoming Less and Less American In Terms of Ownership
April 25th, 2022
Via InvestigateMidwest, an article on the US Government’s impaired ability to track agricultural land ownership: American soil is becoming less and less American when it comes to ownership. Foreign companies are snapping up land across the country, including millions of acres of farmland. But the conversation about foreign agricultural policy is difficult to have, according[…]
Read more »April 21st, 2022
Via Investigate Midwest, a report on the rapid growth of foreign investment in U.S. cropland in the past decade: Foreign investment in U.S. cropland has nearly tripled in the past decade, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The total cropland controlled by foreign interests in 2020 was 10.9 million acres, up from 4.1 million[…]
Read more »Large-Scale land Acquisitions In Africa: Is Bigger Really Better?
April 14th, 2022
Via Salaam Gateway, a look at whether large-scale land acquisitions in Africa really lead to more productivity: The 2007-2008 global food crises, caused by escalating oil prices; a greater request for biofuels and trade decisions, triggered an increased demand for fertile land and has resulted in internationally listed companies, investment funds and private investors entering[…]
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