The food rush: Rising demand in China and west sparks African land grab

A million Chinese farmers have joined the rush to Africa, according to one estimate, underlining concerns that an unchecked “land grab” not seen since the 19th century is under way.

Some of the world’s richest countries are buying or leasing land in some of the world’s poorest to satisfy insatiable appetites for food and fuel. In the new scramble for Africa, nearly 2.5m hectares (6.2m acres) of farmland in just five sub-Saharan countries have been bought or rented in the past five years at a total cost of $920m (
“Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors to the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares,” said a recent report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It described the huge deals reported to date as “the tip of the iceberg”.

The report said farmland purchases are being driven by food security concerns, rising demand and changing dietary habits, expanded biofuel production and interest in what is, in theory, an improved investment climate in some African countries.

In fact China, well known for its interests in minerals and oil, appears to be one of the more modest “neocolonialists” of African agriculture. Vast tracts of the continent’s arable but fallow land are being bought by companies from India, South Korea, America and several oil-rich, food-poor Arab nations.

Lorenzo Cotula, senior researcher at the IFAD, said: “The role of China needs a more subtle analysis. We found that in Africa, China is not one of the big players in terms of acquiring large tracts of land. There is South Korea, there are Gulf-based countries, and there are also western institutions.”

Critics argue that countries are selling their land assets at the expense of smallhold farmers and hungry populations. The institute’s report warned: “Unequal power relations in the land acquisition deals can put the livelihoods of the poor at risk. Since the state often formally owns the land, the poor run the risk of being pushed off the plot in favour of the investor, without consultation or compensation.”

Guardian