October 4th, 2009
Courtesy of The Earth Policy Institute, a further sobering look at the politics of food scarcity, water scarcity, and the ongoing global farms race. As the report notes: “In early 2008, Saudi Arabia announced that, after being self-sufficient in wheat for over 20 years, the non-replenishable aquifer it had been pumping for irrigation was largely[…]
Read more »Analysis Of China’s Agricultural Investment In Africa
October 2nd, 2009
Via The Asia Times Online, a thoughtful analysis of China’s interest and investment into African agriculture in recent months. The report argues that while China has invested immense sums in African agriculture, it appears that – at least thus far – the majority of these funds have not gone directly to securing land leases and[…]
Read more »September 30th, 2009
Via Reuters, a report of more Egyptian investment in Sudanese agricultural land. As the article notes: “…Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital is investing in 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares) of farmland in Sudan, an executive said on Tuesday. Gulf and other Arab countries have been investing in a range of farming projects in Sudan, Africa’s[…]
Read more »The New ‘Scramble For Africa’
September 18th, 2009
Via AllAfrica and Pambazuka News, a detailed look by a pan-Africanist scholar on the latest “scramble for Africa.” As the article notes: “…How is it possible that in the 21st century the world has the capacity to feed every single human being on the planet, yet the majority of people in Africa and the rest[…]
Read more »August 16th, 2009
Courtesy of The Guardian, an interesting look at how resource-hungry China has so far passed over investing in high-priced farmlands of South America in favor of Africa, with its less developed commodities markets, greater need for financing and open labor laws. As the article notes: “…China is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on efforts[…]
Read more »Global Land Grabs – A Commentary
August 14th, 2009
Via AlterNet, an interesting commentary on the trend – over the past six months — of big players in the global economy have grabbed 50 million acres of arable land, from Africa to Southeast Asia. As the article notes: “…Investment banks, sovereign wealth funds and other barely regulated financial entities in search of fat paydays[…]
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