RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Global investors have spent more than $90 billion buying agricultural lands the size of Finland in deals criticized by rights groups for displacing small farmers, according to research published today.
Internationally, there are now 491 large-scale farmland deals covering territory in 78 countries, said the analysis from GRAIN, a Barcelona-based campaign group.
Activists have condemned the deals as “land grabs” hurting developing countries while supporters say large-scale foreign land investments can alleviate poverty and help boost domestic farm productivity.
The report found that while the total area covered by large-scale agricultural investments has declined by five million hectares over the past four years, the number of financial deals to secure the land has increased.
Many of the largest investments are in Africa with money from the Gulf states, East Asia and other international investors pouring into Sudan, Mozambique and other countries, the report said.
Palm oil, feed for livestock, sugar, corn, wheat and rice are some of the key crops produced through the international land deals.
GRAIN reported that the largest land deals were signed between 2008 and 2012 when global food prices reached record highs. Some of these deals have since collapsed.
“Now there are more deals on the table covering slightly less land,” GRAIN researcher Renee Vellve told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
