May 22nd, 2009
Courtesy of Dawn Media, a report that Pakistan is planning to dramatically increase the amount of farmland open to foreign investors to six million acres, but will require outsiders to share half of their crop with local growers. As the article notes: “…Crop sharing will defuse tensions with local farmers fearful of being crowded out[…]
Read more »Kenyan Plan To Lease Land to Qatar
May 22nd, 2009
Via Kenya’s Capital Business Journal, an article on Kenya’s plans to lease out about 100,000 acres of land to a Gulf state for agriculture at a time when the country is facing serious food shortages. As the report notes: “…The deal with the government of Qatar is similar to a model that has been widely[…]
Read more »May 22nd, 2009
Via The Economist, an interesting look at the trend of rich food importers acquiring large tracts of poor countries’ farmland. As the article notes: EARLY this year, the king of Saudi Arabia held a ceremony to receive a batch of rice, part of the first crop to be produced under something called the King Abdullah[…]
Read more »Cambodia: Fertile Lands for Overseas Investment
April 27th, 2009
Via The Economist, an interesting report on a dispute over Kuwait’s plans to invest in Cambodia’s agricultural sector. This follows a similar investment made last year by Qatar. As the article notes: IT SEEMED like the perfect match. Kuwait has a lot of money and needs to import food. Cambodia has a lot of fertile[…]
Read more »April 24th, 2009
Via Scientific American, a stark report by Lester R. Brown on the concerns that food shortages & global farm wars could push the world into massive crisis. The summary points follow; complete article is below. Food scarcity and the resulting higher food prices are pushing poor countries into chaos. Such “failed states” can export disease,[…]
Read more »China: The Hungry Dragon Looks Outward (2)
April 21st, 2009
Via Stratfor (subscription required), an interesting report on China’s food security, namely its heavy investment in foreign food sources and high likelihood of continuing to do so in the future. As the article notes: “…China has no intention of investing in African farmlands to secure its food supply, Chinese Deputy Agriculture Minister Niu Dun said[…]
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