sattvika
8th June 2011, 23:13
Once again, can't post the link (grrrr) but google "Hedge Funds 'Grabbing Land' in Africa" or a string from the quote below (BBC Article).
In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts.
It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small farmers.
Foreign firms farm the land to consolidate their hold over global food markets, the report said.
They also use land to "make room" for export commodities such as biofuels and cut flowers.
"This is creating insecurity in the global food system that could be a much bigger threat than terrorism," the report said.
According to my conservative calculations (I chose 50m hectares instead of 60m hectares) this amounts to ~1.6% of Africa's total land area in 2009 alone, not subtracting the Sahara Desert or discriminating between arable and un-arable land.
What do you think? The locals seem to be happy because they have jobs, but this is African land being used to grow biofuel for Western consumption. Can Western institutions (esp. Financial Sector) manage African resources and real assets better than native Africans? Not as dumb a question as it would first appear!
In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts.
It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small farmers.
Foreign firms farm the land to consolidate their hold over global food markets, the report said.
They also use land to "make room" for export commodities such as biofuels and cut flowers.
"This is creating insecurity in the global food system that could be a much bigger threat than terrorism," the report said.
According to my conservative calculations (I chose 50m hectares instead of 60m hectares) this amounts to ~1.6% of Africa's total land area in 2009 alone, not subtracting the Sahara Desert or discriminating between arable and un-arable land.
What do you think? The locals seem to be happy because they have jobs, but this is African land being used to grow biofuel for Western consumption. Can Western institutions (esp. Financial Sector) manage African resources and real assets better than native Africans? Not as dumb a question as it would first appear!