Africa is the continent most impacted by land grabs, with 422 deals covering a total area of 10 million hectares, The Land Matrix, an independent global land watchdog, says.
The organization, an independent initiative that collects data on land acquisitions in low- and middle-income countries, said in a report, released Tuesday in Rome, that other heavily impacted regions are Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
Land Matrix defines its goal as promoting transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment. It is coordinated by a network of international research institutions and organizations.
Around the world, 26.7 million hectares of agricultural land have been transferred into the hands of foreign investors since the year 2000.
This means that these investors possess approximately 2 per cent of the arable land worldwide, or roughly the equivalent to the total area covered by United Kingdom and Slovenia together.
This finding comes from a new report, entitled Land Matrix Analytical Report II: International Land Deals for Agriculture.
The report provides detailed information on who is buying up farmland in which regions of the world and how this land is being used. It also highlights the economic, social, and political impacts of land grabs.
“We are observing not only that more and more agricultural lands have changed hands, but also that they are increasingly being actively cultivated and used – for example, to grow grain, oil palms, and sugar cane,” said GIGA research fellow, Dr. Kerstin Nolte, one of the report’s authors.
“The impacts for local communities will likely further intensify in the coming years.”
“The report is very relevant considering the recent decision by the International Criminal Court to hold company executives, politicians and other individuals criminally responsible for environmental destruction and land grabbing,” said Wytske Chamberlain, a University of Pretoria researcher and co-author of the report.
Hijaba Ykhanbai, director of JASIL, a Mongolian land organization that partners with the Land Matrix, praised the publication of the new report, saying “In our region many countries are newly independent states: state policies as well as decision making processes on land use are not clear and not participatory.”
Additional findings from the report included:
Around the world, 1,004 signed agreements on agricultural land (so-called “land deals”) exist.
For approximately 70 per cent of these deals (710), agricultural activities have been initiated.
The agreements primarily target areas previously used for agriculture. This creates increased competition for land and the potential for conflicts with the local population.
Markus Giger, Head of Global Change Impacts on Sustainable Development at the University of Bern, said: ”A lack of transparency and the marginalization of local stakeholders weaken the bargaining position of smallholder farmers and pastoralists, including indigenous peoples”
Most of the investors are from Malaysia, the United States, Great Britain, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. Western European investors are involved in 315 land deals covering an area of 7.3 million hectares which makes Western Europe the largest investor region.
Source PANA
