In direct consequence of the global food crisis and price volatility, plans to buy or rent large-scale agricultural lands - sometimes on hundreds of thousands of hectares - are increasing. They emanate notably from the Gulf countries, big foodstuffs importers that in this way seek to guarantee their supplies with developing countries that have lower population density, and superior space and water wealth. The coveted lands are located in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Uganda, Ethiopia and even Sudan.

    "The pursuit of land is not a new phenomenon, but we are witnessing a significant acceleration," observes Paul Mathieu, an expert in land management with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). While agribusinesses remain the traditional investors, they've been joined these last few years by biofuel producers, often European, that take a keen interest in African lands. Then, with the takeoff in raw materials prices, investment funds looking for juicy operations have set their hearts on a sector that was previously not very profitable. Finally, sovereign funds intend to play a role in food security matters from now on.

    The demand is such that the FAO is beginning to ring alarm bells: thus, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf says he dreads "the emergence of a neocolonial pact for the supply of raw materials with no value added for the producer countries." His teams are reflecting on land policy tools to counsel to the governments involved.

    The idea is not to renounce such a godsend, but to avoid expropriations of small producers and speculation. Not forgetting deforestation, the direct impact of the headlong rush into the sector. "The increase in the price of agricultural land increases the gap in profitability with forest values," worries Alain Karsenty, a researcher at the Center for International Cooperation and Agronomic Research for Development (Cirad), who dreads a rise in the phenomenon in Amazonia or the Congo River basin.

    A Risk or a Godsend

    Some countries attempt to define the rules. If the government had practiced "laissez faire," relates Senegalese Minister for Land Management Abdourahim Agne, "all Senegalese lands would be in American and European hands." He considers that landowners - whether the government or peasants - must remain the land's owners, even as they supply the factories of foreign actors.

    "If an investment risks destroying local agriculture, it must be rejected, but if it brings new technologies that benefit the producers, its advent may be positive," explains David King, secretary general for the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. "Sovereign funds have billions available; why shouldn't they invest in agriculture?" For while certain developing countries have land in abundance, they lack silos, roads, railroads. Consequently, they themselves ask for this manna to modernize their agriculture, as in Kazakhstan, which proposes ten-year land concessions to foreigners.

    The risk exists that these sudden interests will not last. In Eastern countries, for example, "the increase in agricultural prices was a wake-up call and the region is promising. But one must remain cautious about the impact of such a phenomenon over the long term," declares Gilles Mettetal, agribusiness director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). That's why the EBRD, which supplements investments in this region, makes sure investors from the profession receive priority.

    --------

    Translation: Truthout French language editor Leslie Thatcher.

All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.