GRAIN | November 2009

The monopolisation of land

GRAIN09/2010

GRAIN | September 2010

The investors 

States and businesses, but mainly the private sector.

The States provide political support and facilitate agreements. The main governments involved: the Gulf States, Korea, China, Japan and Libya. But also: Singapore, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Egypt, the WAEMU

But it is business which is leading the projects (either off their own bat or urged by the State). Combinations of agro-food companies (production and marketing) and financial investment companies (capital investment companies, pension funds, investment banks, holding companies, speculation companies or hedge funds, etc.)

The Philippine government has undertakne considerable negotiations with the Gulf States

and China

The Indian company Karuturi has set up in Éthiopia

GRAIN | September 2010

The new landowners

Set up in 2008 to buy agricultural land in Brazil, Agrifirma has some very famous investors - Jim Slater, Jim Rogers and Lord Rothschild. It holds around  42,000 ha  out of some 2.5 m under examination

Philippe Heilberg, ex-trader with the Solomon Brothers and AIG, current CEO of Jarch Capital (US), has bought 400,000 ha in Sudan and plans to double

doubler this area before the end of 2009.

The Ben Laden group is targeting 500,000 ha of land in Papuasia, Indonesia, to grow rice for the

Saudi market

Ukraine has given 250,000 ha aux to the Libyans to grow their own wheat, in exchange for gas supplies

Susan Payne of Emergent Asset (UK): Holds over 150,000 ha in Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and

Mozambique.

Jeffrey Currie of Goldman Sachs sees the monopolisation of land as “a good thing". Goldman Sachs has bought 10 poultry farms in China for 300 m $US, leaving them what might be termed the trouble of setting the prices.

Public and private investors in the Gulf are already involved in over 100 agreements covering tens of m ha, mainly in Africa and Asiat

Richard Spinks de Landkom (UK) has leased 70,000 ha in Ukraine, where he is aiming for 500,000 within five years

Mozambique has just granted 20,000ha to Mauritius which is sub-leasing them to Vitagrain, a Singapore company, to grow rice for Mauritius

In August 2009, Trigon Agri (DK) already controls over 170,000 ha in Russia, Ukraine and Estonia

GRAIN | September  2010

and still so many more...

Discussions between Abu Dhabi and-Sudan

The Chinese want to grow rice in Cameroon

Sheik Al Amoudi: 500,000 ha in Ethiopia

10m ha in Congo-Brazzaville for South African farmers

Portuguese investors are buying land in Sierra Leone

The establishment of new funds by the Gulf States to buy farm land

Olam of Singapore is buying 200,000 ha in Gabon for palm oil plantations.

Problems for the win-win scenario

- reorienting the discussion: from agriculture (how to feed the world, including the >1.05 billion hungry?) and the land (governance) to satisfactory progress for investments

- basic injustice (transferring the control of the land)

- the vast majority of these investments are aiming for intensive, highly capitalised production for export

- nobody believes in principles (jobs, etc.) and very few people trust the governments or investors involved

GRAIN | September 2010

6

Concrete action is needed:

1) information2) controls (eg. Argentina,

Australia, Brazil, New Zealand)

3) growth of capital devoted to monopolising land

4) food independence

GRAIN | September 2010