By Eric Akasa
Land equivalent to the size of Cameroon
or Kenya was sold off during the last decade to foreign investors says
international development agency Oxfam. The existing 700 land deals on the
African continent represent 50 million hectares of land. Globally, the amount
of land sold off in the past ten years is enough to grow food for a billion
people, Oxfam says. The agency called on African Union member states and the
World Bank to freeze large-scale land acquisitions for a year
In its new report, Our Land, Our Lives, Oxfam warns that more than 60 per cent of global investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious food security challenges. However, two thirds of those investors plan to export everything they produce on the land. Nearly 60 percent of global land deals in the past decade have been to grow crops that can be used for biofuels.
Land deals in Africa potentially threaten the livelihoods of the continent's 80 million smallholder farmers and pastoralists, which contribute 30 per cent of Africa’s GDP and 40 per cent of its exports. From Senegal to Zambia, smallholder producers, many of them women, have lost their homes and the land they rely on for their survival, often violently and without adequate compensation. Oxfam said Africa has been the continent most targeted for land acquisitions, with known deals equal to nearly five per cent of Africa's total agricultural area.
The report comes as Oxfam steps up its campaign to end land grabs that violate the rights of the world’s poorest people. Oxfam supports greater investment in agriculture and to small-scale farmers. However the unprecedented rush for land has not been adequately regulated or policed to prevent land grabs and poor people continue to be evicted. Many lose their homes and are left destitute, without access to the land they rely on for food to eat and make a living.
In its new report, Our Land, Our Lives, Oxfam warns that more than 60 per cent of global investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious food security challenges. However, two thirds of those investors plan to export everything they produce on the land. Nearly 60 percent of global land deals in the past decade have been to grow crops that can be used for biofuels.
Land deals in Africa potentially threaten the livelihoods of the continent's 80 million smallholder farmers and pastoralists, which contribute 30 per cent of Africa’s GDP and 40 per cent of its exports. From Senegal to Zambia, smallholder producers, many of them women, have lost their homes and the land they rely on for their survival, often violently and without adequate compensation. Oxfam said Africa has been the continent most targeted for land acquisitions, with known deals equal to nearly five per cent of Africa's total agricultural area.
The report comes as Oxfam steps up its campaign to end land grabs that violate the rights of the world’s poorest people. Oxfam supports greater investment in agriculture and to small-scale farmers. However the unprecedented rush for land has not been adequately regulated or policed to prevent land grabs and poor people continue to be evicted. Many lose their homes and are left destitute, without access to the land they rely on for food to eat and make a living.
According to Oxfam's Pan Africa Head of Economic Justice, Mohamed Lamine Ndiaye, “With food prices spiking for the third time in four years, interest in land could accelerate again as rich countries try to secure their food supplies and investors see land as a good long-term bet. We are concerned that another wave of land grabs could occur unless better protection is put in place for poor people”.
Oxfam calculates that land deals tripled during the food price crisis in 2008 and 2009 because land was increasingly viewed as a profitable investment. With global food prices again hovering at record levels urgent action is needed to stop the threat of another wave of land grabs.
Oxfam says there is a need for Member States of the African Union to act decisively to freeze land acquisitions of more than 200 hectares for at least one year, to allow impact assessment to be carried out. As an influential investor and advisor in land deals, the organisation is calling for the World Bank to temporarily freeze its agricultural investments in land. This should give time for the Bank to review its advice to developing countries, help set standards for investors, and introduce more robust policies to help stop land-grabs.
Oxfam’s Pan Africa Director Irungu Houghton said: “The rush for land is out of control and some of the world’s poorest people are suffering hunger, violence and greater poverty as a result. The World Bank is in a unique position to help stop land grabs becoming one of the biggest scandals of the century and must act now”.
“The Panafrican Parliament has given its green light to adopt a moratorium on land grabs until social, environmental and economic impacts are better understood. Member States of the African Union should step in and act now as well. Concerted actions will yield quick results.” Adds Mr. Houghton
Oxfam said land grabbing in rural Africa is aggravated by laws, both statutory and customary, that can be very flexibly interpreted when investors get support from local elites or government decision makers.
Oxfam wants the freeze of land acquisitions to send a strong signal to global investors to stop land-grabbing and to improve standards for: Transparency,
Consultation and consent, Land rights and governance, and Food security
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