June 30th, 2012
Via The New York Times, an interesting op-ed on China’s investment interest in Africa: IN June 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech in Zambia warning of a “new colonialism” threatening the African continent. “We saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off[…]
Read more »Mozambique Farmland Is Prize In Land Grab Fever
June 16th, 2012
Via NPR, a report on the rush for Mozambiquan farmland: In these days of financial uncertainty, the hot new investment tip is farmland. This spring, 750 Wall Street types crowded into New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for a conference on investing in global agriculture. Philippe de Laperouse, managing director of HighQuest Partners, which organized the event,[…]
Read more »June 11th, 2012
Via China Daily, an article on China’s appetite for overseas land to feed its nation: Some Chinese companies are growing soybeans overseas to fill the supply gap in China. Provided to China Daily Chinese firms tap resource-rich countries to feed world’s largest population With demand for food rising with China’s growing population and economy,[…]
Read more »Land Grabbers: Africa’s Hidden Revolution
May 21st, 2012
Via The Guardian, a look at the impact of the trend that vast swaths of Africa are being bought up by oligarchs, sheikhs and agribusiness corporations: Employees of Saudi Star work in a rice paddy in Gambella, Ethiopia. The government wants to resettle thousands of families away from fertile land. Photograph: Jenny Vaughan/AFP/Getty Images Omot[…]
Read more »May 10th, 2012
Via The National, an article on the need for further investment in Central Asian farmland. As the report notes: Arab states should invest in Central Asian farmland to help to secure their future food supplies, a senior Arab League official said today. Dr Mohammed Al Twaijri said Central Asia could be a better option than[…]
Read more »Great Overseas Resource Rush
May 8th, 2012
Via Zawya, a detailed look at the great overseas resource rush: Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the top four countries on a massive investment spree to acquire agricultural resources. A new report by the LAND Matrix group – an amalgamation of global think-tanks – looks at how rich countries are scouring for land[…]
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