Stop Africa Land Grab

What Is Land Grabbing?

Dina Dadian — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:19:03 +0000

Land grabbing is the contentious issue of large-scale land acquisitions; the buying or leasing of large pieces of land in developing countries, by domestic and transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing as used today primarily refers to large-scale land acquisitions following the 2007-2008 world food price crisis. By prompting food security fears within the developed world and newfound economic opportunities for agricultural investors and speculators, the food price crisis caused a dramatic spike in large-scale agricultural investments, primarily foreign, in the Global South for the purposes of food and biofuels production. Initially hailed by investors and some developing countries as a new pathway towards agricultural development, investment in land has recently been criticized by a number of civil society, governmental, and multinational actors for the various negative impacts that it has had on local communities.

The target locations of most land grabs are in the Global South, with 70% of land grabs concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other primary areas of note are in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

African Land Grab

Land Grabbing in Africa: a Review of the Impacts and the Possible Policy Responses

- a research funded by the Pan Africa Programme of Oxfam International, conducted by Tinyade Kachika, Senior researcher.

The research highlights issue such as:

The Rise of Land Deals in Sub-Saharan Africa
Land Grabbing and Risk for Small Scale Farmers,
Land Grabs: Another Yoke over Women’s Land Rights?
Opportunity for Groups at Risk: The African Union’s Continental Standards on Land Question

Click here to view PDF document for Land Grabbing in Africa: a Review of the Impacts and the Possible Policy Responses

Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab

Farmgrab.org, a website, dedicated mainly to news reports about the global rush to buy up or lease farmlands abroad as a strategy to secure basic food supplies or simply for profit. Its purpose is to serve as a resource for those monitoring or researching the issue, particularly social activists, non-government organisations and journalists.

Click here to go to farmlandgrab.org

Links About Land Grab

Emeka Akaezuwa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:23:28 +0000

The is a lot of news on the web about Africa Land Grab. We are glad to share the links to them.

Quotes from displaced Africans

Emeka Akaezuwa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:23:08 +0000

Human Rights Watch says it has evidence that some 70,000 indigenous people in the western Gambella region (in Ethiopia) were relocated against their will to new villages that “lack adequate food, farmland, healthcare and educational facilities”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16590416

When they first came they told us an investor was coming and we would develop the land alongside one another. They didn’t say the land would be taken away from us entirely. Farmer Gemechu Garbaba

http://www.channel4.com/news/africa-succumbs-to-colonial-style-land-grab

“Now, no land, no farm, no food.” Farmer Gemechu Garbaba’s wife.

http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/07/us_investors_and_universities_join_the_land_rush_in_africa.html

“Some people are doing business here but I have no idea what they are doing with our land. I see them growing sugarcane. That’s all I know.” Abdulai Conteh , a local traditional leader in Senegal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13688683

Africa Land Grab Countries

Emeka Akaezuwa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:04:05 +0000

Some Land Grab Countries

1. Congo
2. Ethiopia
3. Kenya
4. Mali
5. Mozambique
6. Sierra Leone
7. South Sudan
8. Tanzania

We’ll be adding Google Map to show locations of countries soon.

Some Foreign Countries, Firms and Individuals Involved in Land Grab in Africa

Emeka Akaezuwa — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:53:02 +0000

Some Land Grab Countries

Congo
Ethiopia
Kenya
Mali
Mozambique
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Tanzania

Some Foreign Countries, Firms and Individuals Involved in Land Grab in Africa

Goldman Sachs
JP Morgan
London-based Emergent that works to attract speculators, and various universities
Harvard US Investors and Universities Join the Land Rush in Africa
Spellman US Universities in Africa Land Grab
Vanderbilt.
Kinyeti Development LLC
Howard Eugene Douglas, a former United States Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Refugee Affairs.
Bruce Rastetter.
Petrotech-ffn USA
Swedish and German firms have interests in the production of biofuels in Tanzanian
Addax Bioenergy from Switzerland
Quifel International Holdings (QIH) from Portugal are major investors in Sierra Leone
UK based Crad-1 (CAPARO Renewable Agriculture Developments Ltd.), associated with the Tony Blair Africa

Some Land Grab Facts

Emeka Akaezuwa — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:26:03 +0000

In 2010 up to 123.5 million acres of African land — double the size of Britain — have been snapped up or is being negotiated by governments or wealthy investors.
Ethiopia alone has approved 815 foreign-financed agricultural projects since 2007
Asian and Middle East companies had bought up 560 million acres of farmland in developing countries, often at bargain prices, with some reportedly less than $1 a hectare.
Oxfam estimated Ethiopia now supports the export of fruit and vegetables worth $60 million annually, as well as flowers worth $160 million per year. Meanwhile, most of the indigenous population receives foreign food aid.
Rich Arab states like Saudi Arabia have bought up huge tracts of land across Africa in recent years in a bid to combat global food shortages, water scarcity and desertification and to feed their swelling populations.