Deal or no deal: the outlook for agricultural land investment in Africa

Abstract

Recent spikes in prices for food and energy have thrown into sharp relief the squeeze between demand and supply, and between rising populations and per capita consumption on the one hand and environmental degradation and climate change on the other. Governments have long looked beyond global markets to achieve national energy security, and now a range of countries that are net food importers are negotiating bilateral deals to secure food supplies. Equally, businesses are recognizing new opportunities for strong returns from international investments in agriculture, for food and fuel as well as for other products. In consequence, there has been a conspicuous surge in direct investment in agricultural land over the past couple of years. Dubbed 'land grabs' in the media, these investments have kindled much international debate, in which strong positions are taken on the impacts of such investments on environment, rights, sovereignty, livelihoods, development and conflict at local, national and international levels. An analysis of this complex and shifting situation, focusing on Africa, lays out key trends, drivers and main features, and outlines how to make the renewed momentum in agricultural investment work for development and avoid the pitfalls of exacerbated political tensions. 1

Discontents in Japans aid discourse in Africa: Land grabbing activism in Tokyo International Conference for Africa Development (TICAD) process

“…Such analysis of land acquisition, sale, or long term leasing by foreign investors have laid emphasis on the gap between transnational corporations Trans-National Corporations (TNC) eagerness to land acquisition and small holders farmers resistance (Cotula and Vermeulen, 2009;Colin and Woodhouse, 2010). This gap has been expounded in terms of its impact on local residents livelihoods, the local"s accessibility to land (theory of access (Ribot and Peluso, 2003), and food security (Hall, 2013)).…”

Global Gender and Environment Outlook 2016

“…Land grabbing is a global phenomenon that has had significant economic, environmental and social impacts during the last decade or so, frequently resulting in conflict between local communities and outsiders (Dhiaulhaq 2014;IIED 2016a;Cotula and Vermeulen 2010;Cotula et al 2009). Land grabs in forest areas are often followed by the introduction of chemically intensive, industrial-scale monoculture production (i.e.…”

Cameroon: Perspectives on Food Security and the Emerging Power Footprint

“…Attention to the divergent perspectives that populate the food security policy area ultimately enriches analyses of the contributions emerging powers are or are not making to food security through land acquisition [72,[79][80][81][82][83]. Through focusing on three dimensions of food security across three consequential types of emerging power engagement in one country, a much more nuanced picture of perspectives on the topic emerges than is evident in the recent global literature that emphasizes land issues.…”