Land grabbing in africa and the new politics of food. Land use and land use change may themselves be drivers of land investments and at the same time represent an important field of inquiry for land change science. The natives land act of 19 engineered the poverty of. Conference on land grabbing and just governance aefjn. Land grabbingis a dynamic of landuse change that can enable especially rapid environmental transformations across vast spatial scales. Studies suggest that a third of the land sold or acquired in africa is intended for fuel crops some 5 million hectares. Specific home and hostcountry policies, cheap land, the lack of a legal infrastructure, investment opportunities and the promise of quick profit returns are the driving factors behind land acquisitions throughout africa, argues nikolaj nielsen in this weeks pambazuka news. Feb 23, 2012 grain launches a new data set documenting 416 recent, largescale land grabs by foreign investors for the production of food crops. The article argues that a human rights approach is fundamental to reconcile the sustainable development imperatives of economic development and environmental protection in the. Land grabbing as a driver of environmental change eprints soton. Threequarters of the 20 states most affected by land grabbing are in africa and asia reuters the worrying rise in foreign investors buying up land in poor countries is set to get worse in future, taking valuable resources from local populations.
In the 2000s, africa became a grabbers hotspot, following global concerns over food security and fuel supplies. The problem of land grabbing in contemporary kenya jacqueline m. The report concludes by revisiting its human rights framework and making the point that land grabbing is a violation of the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights. That area represents a remarkable two percent of arable land in the.
Impacts on farm dwellers livelihoods and rights to. Biofuels, land grabbing and food security in africa diva portal. While used broadly throughout history, land grabbing as used in the 21st century primarily refers to largescale land acquisitions following the 200708 world food price crisis. Land, life and justice how land grabbing in uganda is affecting the environment, livelihoods and food sovereignty of communities april 2012 land, life and justice how land grabbing in uganda is affecting the environment, livelihoods and food sovereignty of communities friends of the earth internationalis an international federation of diverse grassrootsbased. While some of this land is sold outright to private. In subsaharan africa, the pace and scale at which land is changing hands are increasing fast. Friends of the earth has looked at cases of land grabbing in 11 countries across africa, from ethiopia to mozambique see appendix. Sep 26, 20 eff leader julius malema has sought to assure white people that genocide would not be committed if land grabbing did take place in south africa.
How often are we going to find hugely expensive efforts to collect and verify land grab data that include verification methodologies where one ngo collection of news media stories serves to validate the cases collected by another ngo. Agricultural investment and international land deals in africa. From land grabbing to sustainable investments in land. Land grabbing, sustainable development and human rights. When the dutch arrived in the cape in the 1650s the acquisition of land began. Preventing landgrabbing in africa africa faith and justice. The scale and impact of land grabbing for agrofuels. Largescale land acquisitions are widespread in africa. Historically, the rufiji river basin rrb is rich of accounts of struggles and resistance against domination, oppression, and exploitation. Eff leader julius malema has sought to assure white people that genocide would not be committed if land grabbing did take place in south africa. The great african land grab agricultural investments and. Land grabbing industrial nations buy huge areas of land to meet the growing hype for green fuel.
For local people in subsaharan africa, large land investment projects currently imply many. In this part, we will outline the motivations and key players driving these investments. A report issued jointly by the groups polaris and the oakland institute entitled land grab leaves africa thirsty, warns that if all the 40 million hectares of land that were acquired on the continent in 2009 come under cultivation, a staggering volume of water would be required for irrigation. But is landgrabbing over, in mozambique and across africa and the rest of the developing world. Help spread information on the new scramble for africa. Click here to view pdf document for land grabbing in africa. Gty from total land grab areas by country, weighted by a latitude related factor k shown in a. Aca demic attention to land grabbing, the vernacular. Towards a common understanding and definition of land grabbing around the world since there is no complete definition of land grabbing that includes all necessary parts we need to develop and accept one that can be used for any geographical area. Yield gaps and relative land availability for subsaharan africa. Agricultural investments and the global food system african arguments cotula, lorenzo on. Nov 05, 2015 in spite of the existing yield gaps, press releases about land grabs, especially chinese land acquisitions in africa, have boomed recently, especially since the sharp increase in international. Jan 26, 2016 according to a 2011 publication by nuwire investor, one hectare 2.
Land, with its available water potential, was acquired by a wide range of private and public actors, including sovereign governments, on african soil. Jun 25, 2010 the subject of transnational land acquisitions, infamously referred to as land grabbing, has increasingly become an important policy concern in africa as acquisitions have grown in scale and number. More specifically, it was concerned with identifying 3 cotula, lorenzo etal2009 land grab or development opportunity. Oct 12, 2014 as the international community joins hands to stop the threat of the ebola virus, bahati jacques of africa faith and justice network, a catholic advocacy organization based in washington dc, would like to also shine some light, stop and prevent another serious and rapidly growing threat to africas future. Ethiopia land portal securing land rights through open. Land grabbing in africa and the new politics of food fao. In spite of the existing yield gaps, press releases about land grabs, especially chinese land acquisitions in africa, have boomed recently, especially since the sharp increase in international. World bank fuels land grabs in africa through shadowy. Access to land is at the heart of rural livelihoods. The conference will feature various speakers who will focus on a range of country casestudies of land grabbing in africa. What do we know about the chinese land grab in africa. Others are more cautious, speaking of largescale land acquisitions, while the world bank notes euphemistically the rising global interest in farmland. Land in south africa has always been a bone of contention. Food sovereignty is a concept developed by via campesina in 1996 as an alternative to neoliberal policies and the industrial model of production.
Grain grain releases data set with over 400 global land grabs. Since 2000, foreign governments and corporations have bought or leased over 56 million hectares in africa, an area almost the size of kenya. An article on the history of land grabbing in south africa. A report out later this month by a bern database into land grabbing. First, inadequate assessments of land use in terms of noneconomic services have led to faulty categorizations such as idle or. Land grabbing is the process, affecting especially southern countries, by which transnational corporations, foreign governments, pension funds, wealthy individuals, etc. Stop africa land grab the global movement to rollback. Klopp political liberalization in africa is a more problematic process than earlier thought. Agricultural investment and international land deals in africa pdf. The world banks privatesector arm, the international finance corporation ifc. Africa land grab recent articles and reports on african. Powerful actors will attempt to maintain patrimonial control by developing creative counterstrategies to change.
Water droughts in midtolow latitudes and disappearance of glaciers. Nigerian parliament condemns land grab by chinese firms. Rising global interest in farmland world bank group. The collection of cases cover nearly 35 million hectares of land in 66 countries, providing a stark snapshot of how agribusiness is expanding across the globe and how it is taking food production out of the hands of farmers and local communities. This article explores the impact of land grabbing in ethiopia and examines the human rights and sustainable development frameworks within which land grabbing takes place.
Customary land tenure is characterised by its largely unwritten nature, is based on local practices and norms, and is flexible. Last week, the new land matrix land grab database was released at a big world bank conference on land. It was in this region that the initial planning and. Land grabbing is the contentious issue of largescale land acquisitions. The history of land grabbing in south africa farmlands in the swartland area of the western cape land in south africa has always been a bone of contention. Guidelines for sustainable largescale land deals in africa fao.
Academic attention to land grabbing, the vernacular term for. However, by not having addressed the current debates on womens. In order to properly assess what policies are intentionally or unintentionally fostering land grabbing, it is necessary to look into other policy fields interacting with land grabbing such as land policies, investment protection regimes, and trade policies. Grain launches a new data set documenting 416 recent, largescale land grabs by foreign investors for the production of food crops. As a result of the increasingly deteriorating situation, the first africa conference on land grab is being organised, scheduled for 2730 of october 2014 at the pan african parliament, south africa. Because the majority of land in africa is categorized as nonprivate as a result of government policies on public land ownership and a lack of active titling. How the ifc profits from land grabbing in africa, released by inclusive development international, bank information center, accountability counsel, urgewald and the oakland institute shows how the world bank group has indirectly financed some of africas most notorious land grabs. Grain grain releases data set with over 400 global land. Rapidly increasing demand for palm oil for food and agrofuels is currently leading to a new wave of largescale planting in africa. According to a 2011 publication by nuwire investor, one hectare 2. This statistic represents the french acquisitions of agricultural land abroad as of january 2016. As the international community joins hands to stop the threat of the ebola virus, bahati jacques of africa faith and justice network, a catholic advocacy organization based in washington dc, would like to also shine some light, stop and prevent another serious and rapidly growing threat to africas future. This region is part of the guinean forests of west africa, identified as a biodiversity hotspot one of the worlds top 25 critical areas for biodiversity conservation. More than 1,000 largescale foreign land deals are now under contract for agriculture covering more than 26 million hectares of land, according to the new report, land matrix analytical report ii.
Zombie chinese land grabs in africa rise again in new. Since 2009, the land matrix, a joint independent landmonitoring initiative of civil society, intergovernmental organizations and research institutes, has collected key information regarding land grabbing. This pdf is made available under a creative commons. This phenomenon is called land grabbing, the new form of colonization of developing countries many of which in africa has reached new heights in. Preventing landgrabbing in africa africa faith and. It signifies the right of peoples, nations, or unions of nations to define their agricultural and food policies without outside. Malema assures whites land grabbing will be a peaceful. New scholarship is beginning to address these land deals in terms of their implications for social and political systems, but. Research in ethiopia, ghana, mali, mozambique, senegal and tanzania indicate that land grabbing is currently a big challenge for african countries because of. Since 2008, an insidious and dangerous global process has been implemented to access africas arable land and take control of her natural resources. Land grabbing in af rica and the new politics of food introduction africa is for sale is how some characterise it. Land grabbing and food sovereignty in west and central africa. There has been a lack of discussion of gender in considering land grabs, most notably in the world banks recent report and in the various proposed guidelines. Land grabbing in africa and the new politics of food africa is for sale is how some characterise it.
Pdf on jan 1, 2010, cecilie friis and others published land grab in africa. Addis abeba the african union au declaration on land issues and challenges, the au declaration of committing 2010 2020 as the african womens decade and the au 30 per cent target for documented land rights in womens names by 2025, are important messages from leaders on the continent that empowering women through tenure security is a necessary condition for equity and the socioeco. Over the past decade, largescale land acquisition in africa has become quite intense, especially in drc, ethiopia, madagascar, mozambique, sudan, tanzania and zambia. The natives land act of 19 engineered the poverty of black south africans. Located in southwest cameroon, the herakles plantations would cover most of the land linking five important protected areas, including korup national park. Agricultural investments and the global food system african arguments. Mozambique, africa still in the crosshairs timothy a.
Land grabbing in africa published on apr 12, 20 four ugandan schoolboys wrote essays about the effects of land grabbing on the lives of their families and community as part of the annual e. Pdf we look at the issue of land grabbing by china based on the existing literature. The many faces of land grabbing march 2014 ejolt report no. Emerging land system drivers in a teleconnected world find. Land grabbing as a driver of environmental change eli d lazarus.
Now that crop and food prices have returned to their usual punishingly low levels, is the pressure off from foreign buyers looking to acquire large. For example, it shows that almost nine percent of africas total area of arable land has changed owners since 2000. Land grabbing is the term used to describe the acquisition leasing or purchasing of arable lands in developing countries by other countries or public or private companies aiming at food security in their home countries, fuel supplies or as investment. Land grabbing in africa, the new colonialism this is africa. The first people to lose their land at the cape were the khoi who used it to graze their animals. He said that he was disturbed by the landgrabbing activities by messrs lee group in many states in the north, the latest being its. Land tenure in much of africa is usually portrayed as either customarytraditional, or statestatutory.
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