Land grabs: governments looking for meals safety sow the seeds of discontent

Donald Trump stole headlines as US president when he was reported to be eager about shopping for Greenland. The self-governing Danish territory rebuffed the concept and declared itself not on the market. However transnational land offers are hardly an anomaly.

Meals insecurity is accelerating the apply. Turkey is amongst these looking for pastures new with the intention to feed its inhabitants. As inflation soars, the nation hopes to revive a flagging deal for a 99-year lease on 800,000 hectares in Sudan.

Practically 500 such offers befell within the decade to 2016 in line with Grain, an NGO monitoring farmland leases which makes use of knowledge from the challenge farmlandgrab.org. These offers lined greater than 30mn hectares of land in 78 international locations, many in Africa. That provides to stress on depleting assets corresponding to water. However the sprint for meals, exacerbated by refugee crises, local weather change and conflict, suggests extra exercise to come back.

Personal corporations have joined the land seize. In 2008 South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics snaffled a 99-year lease on 1.3mn hectares — half the dimensions of Belgium — in Madagascar. Proposed price ticket: zero. “We wish to plant corn there to make sure our meals safety,” a supervisor instructed the FT on the time. “Meals generally is a weapon on this world.”

The backlash that the deal triggered, not least as a result of it performed an element in unseating President Marc Ravalomanana, shrank a number of future plans. Others, together with in Latin America, have been restructured into extra palatable codecs, corresponding to these primarily based on securing farms’ output relatively than the land itself.

However controversial offers are nonetheless going forward. The Abu Dhabi-based Elite Agro, a giant landowner in Serbia, has signed a deal for farmland in Madagascar. US-based African Agriculture (AAGR) has massive plans for rising alfalfa in Senegal and late final 12 months inked agreements for land in Niger.

The group, which is managed by Romanian-Australian mining tycoon Frank Timis, filed to record on Nasdaq on the finish of June. AAGR says that it has supplied colleges and meals in Senegal, and is seen as a pressure for good. However some communities in Senegal are pushing again, saying the land belongs to them. They’re demanding that it’s returned.

There will likely be loads extra scuffles between native populations and new world landlords. However such fights are unlikely to stem the tide of land funding.