December 15th, 2015
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 »Foreign Ownership Ban Scuttles Australia’s Biggest Land Sale
November 20th, 2015
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 »November 17th, 2015
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 »Saudi Wells Running Dry — of Water — Spell End of Desert Wheat
November 5th, 2015
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 »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 […]
Read more »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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