Source: IIED

La récente vague de transactions foncières à grande échelle née des investissements agro-industriels a mis en lumière une demande généralisée en faveur d’une redevabilité accrue en matière de gouvernance des terres et des investissements. Les cadres légaux influencent les possibilités de reddition de comptes et le recours à la loi a figuré dans les réponses des communautés locales aux transactions foncières.

Caso de comunarios que a pesar del régimen de violencia material y simbólica que enfrentan, continúan la lucha por un pedazo de tierra para reproducir la vida. La Calera es el territorio donde durante 20 años de disputas entre 17 comuneros y comuneras indígenas y el poder financiero y los terratenientes de herencia colonial, se enfrentaron por la propiedad y el uso de nueve hectáreas.

Source: Rights and ressources.org

Description

Sierra Leone is one of the least developed countries in the world and is still recovering from a civil war that ended in 2002. Increasingly, the Sierra Leonean government seeks to attract foreign investors through providing opportunities for large-scale land leases for the development of agribusiness. This has triggered a rapid transformation process that poses a considerable threat to food security and social stability. Despite being a pilot country for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, there is no real change on the ground as yet.

The buying up of farmland by international investors is viewed highly critically. However, sweeping judgements could be inappropriate, as our author demonstrates with survey results from Ethiopia and Uganda.

African Governments are planning to leapfrog development and move to a middle income economy in a short time. This requires a sustainable strong economic growth, based primarily on African agricultural resources and initially with huge resources from outside, partly provided by donors but mainly from the private sector through sustainable and responsible investments. All actors should engage in a serious dialogue on how to facilitate and create good investments in order to attract the necessary resources for development.

In many Asian, African, and South American nations, indigenous people are being driven from their homes: Government authorities are leasing hundreds of thousands of hectares of land belonging to indigenous people who only in the rarest of cases possess deeds to the land that are recognised by the authorities. Although in many cases their ancestors have lived on the land for centuries, these rights were never recorded in the land registries. The way of life and the livelihood of many indigenous peoples are severely threatened by their land being sold off.

Since the 2008 food price crisis, foreign investors have been acquiring more and more land in poor countries for producing foodstuffs and biofuels for their own use. Such investments have the potential to promote rural development and food security worldwide. By the same token, however, there is the danger of countless small farmers losing their land, of food insecurity increasing in many places, and of social and ecological systems collapsing through pure "land grabbing".

Large land acquisitions can have a deep, lasting e? ect on livelihoods, food security and the future of agriculture, so there is a need for strategic thinking, vigorous public debate and government responsiveness to public concerns, especially in recipient countries

The world food crisis has spurred foreign direct investments (FDI) into arable land in developing countries. While significant financial inflows into agricultural sectors could be beneficial on a global scale, it could negatively affect local livelihoods. This article provides an overview of the different types of FDI in land. In addition, examples of investment flows are illustrated in an overview and a sustainable impact matrix outlines the occurring effects. Finally, requirements of avoiding negative effects are presented, to achieve a Pareto-efficient win-win situation.

Development assistance is contingent upon the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery mechanisms. EU regional policy offers an appealing paradigm of how to achieve tangible outcomes with sound financial management

Looking at several large-scale land deals in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, this extraordinary documentary highlights the nuanced impacts of these investments. Small-scale farmers and producers, national government officials, and African policy-makers unpack the deals, showing that there are winners and losers when providing investors access to large tracts of land in Africa. For example, land deals impact differently on women and youth, and altering land regimes also impacts on access to other natural resources such as water, fish, and local indigenous vegetables.