February 29th, 2012
Via Briar Patch magazine, a report on investor / speculator interest in Canada’s prairie farmland: A 21st-century land rush is sweeping the globe. Amid skyrocketing food prices, climate-related instability, and declining soil and water resources, wealthy investors have begun to size up the world’s farmland as both an investment opportunity and a hedge against food[…]
Read more »Impact Of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions On Africa’s Farmers
February 23rd, 2012
Via The BBC, a look at the impact of large-scale land acquisitions on Africa’s farmers: “Land grabs” are now one of the biggest issues in Africa. Over the past few years, companies and foreign governments have been leasing large areas of land in some of Africa’s poorest countries. Land deals as % of agricultural area[…]
Read more »February 13th, 2012
Via African Agriculture, an article on the potential of land grabs to cause conflict in Africa. As the report notes: The stampede by wealthy states for arable land across Africa and other developing regions could trigger a series of conflicts if governments fail to protect the rights of their people, two recent studies on land[…]
Read more »Farmland Security
February 3rd, 2012
Via China Dialogue, a look at how the financial crisis caused investors to flock to agricultural assets, and how the associated risks may help drive a more sustainable approach. As the article notes: How agricultural land is owned, what is grown on it, and by whom, will probably determine much of the next century’s politics,[…]
Read more »January 28th, 2012
Via The Utne Reader, a look at how fears of violence and a hunger for profit are sparking a worldwide run on farmland. As the article notes: A 21st-century land rush is on. Driven by fear and lured by promises of high profits, foreign investors are scooping up vast tracts of farmland in some of[…]
Read more »The Hungry Dragon: China Looks Abroad To Satisfy Its Growing Appetite
January 16th, 2012
Via The Sydney Morning Herald, a report on China’s increasing tendency to look abroad to satisfy its growing appetite. As the article notes: CHINESE companies have now acquired farmland roughly equivalent to the size of Melbourne as the country looks abroad to feed its population. About 8000 square kilometres of farmland around the world are[…]
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