posted by Bertie
The planned long term leasing of 1.3m hectares of Madagascar's farm land by South Korean Daewoo Logistics may have become problematic since Madagascar's new president Andry Rajoelina cancelled the deal last week.1)
However, more and more foreign companies make large-scale land deals in Africa and Asia, planning to ship food and biofuel harvests to their own countries. For example, a Libyan investment fund and several Chinese companies have recently obtained 100.000 ha of prime rice land from the Mali government.2)
What are the impacts of these growing foreign direct investments for poorer rural people? The stated objective of the Mali project is to meet local food needs. Food and biofuels production could become an important instrument in rural appraisal and improvement of livelihoods for the poor. But only if local land rights and environmental values are observed and secured and if small farmers get a fair chance in the negotiations with foreign investors.
An article published last week in The Economist3) sketches an optimistic view on the effects of the global food crisis on market opportunities for private agricultural investors. With regard to the discharged deal in Madagascar, after riots and a coup, the article concludes:
"That sort of meddling undermines some investments and businesses. But in a strong market, it makes the businesses that can operate freely all the more lucrative and valuable."
Not a word though about the less profitable impacts this land grabbing may have on local farmers, food sovereignty and biodiversity.
ILEIA Foundation’s Frank van Schoubroeck added the following comment to the article:
"Thanks for the attention to the business of food making. We probably agree that the food sector is more important than some other economic sectors. Without cheap airlines, we adjust our holidays; without food, we die. Therefore I fail to understand why The Economist does not look over the horizon of the fossile fuel era. In May last year we had a taste of what happens with our food when oil prices soar - so what when oil runs out in a decade or so? Aren't we working towards a global food crash? Can somebody provide us with a vision for feeding humanity after 2050?
Maybe, small (in terms of money) 'alternative' movements bear more relevance than suggested by The Economist's coverage. (See for thousands of examples LEISA Magazine.) Add to this that 1.5 billion or so small farmers cannot even buy inputs from Monsanto c.s. - I would think it is high time to highlight alternative pathways to future food supplies. Maybe small farmers should get the rights to produce? (rather than that their land gets grabbed), and supported in their role and knowledge to feed the world? (rather than that they are considered backward). Small-scale farmers produce more per hectare than big companies; if supported (and not competed out) they maintain soil and produce more crop per drop, and with their farming systems they keep the bio-diversity even Monsanto depends upon for its GM crops (and never pays them for). Small-scale farmers can produce our food with much less fuel than Daewoo. In the process you work on poverty reduction, health, and other development goals. Was that not what economy was about? Good investment?"
1) Financial Times, March 18, 2009
2) Grain, Jan. 2009
3) The Economist, March 19, 2009
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