March 26th, 2013
Courtesy of The New York Times, an article on China’s curious interest in Iceland: It was 11 a.m., and a pale sun had only just crawled sluggishly into the sky. The snow, which began falling in September, will probably continue until May. Even for Icelanders accustomed to harsh weather and isolation, Grimsstadir is a particularly […]
Read more »The Pinstripe Farmer: As Crop Prices Surge, Investment Firms And Farmers Vie For Land
March 26th, 2013
Via The New York Times, a report on the tug of war between investment firms and farmers for land: From the potato fields of Michigan to the high prairies of Kansas, farmers are receiving record prices for their land — but economists and banking regulators warn that this boom, like so many before it, could […]
Read more »February 25th, 2013
Via The Guardian, a report on land grabs from a south-south perspective: The idea of south-south co-operation evokes a positive image of solidarity between developing countries through the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge. It’s an attractive proposition, intended to shift the international balance of power and help developing nations break away from aid dependence […]
Read more »The Global Farmland Rush
February 6th, 2013
Via The New York Times, an OpEd on the global farmland rush: OVER the last decade, as populations have grown, capital has flowed across borders and crop yields have leveled off, food-importing nations and private investors have been securing land abroad to use for agriculture. Poor governments have embraced these deals, but their people are […]
Read more »February 6th, 2013
Via The Guardian, an article on Indian investment in Ethiopia: Ethiopia’s leasing of 600,000 hectares (1.5 acres) of prime farmland to Indian companies has led to intimidation, repression, detentions, rapes, beatings, environmental destruction, and the imprisonment of journalists and political objectors, according to a new report. Research by the US-based Oakland Institute suggests many thousands […]
Read more »The Top 5 Land-Grabbing Countries
February 6th, 2013
Via Mother Jones, a report on the top five land-grabbing countries: In 2010, a former Wall Street trader flew into war-torn Sudan to negotiate a deal with a thuggish general. He had his eye on a 1 million acre tract of fertile land fed by a tributary of the Nile in the southern section of […]
Read more »