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LAND GRABBING

LAND GRABBING. A new colonialism ?. Defining Land grabbing …. LAND GRABBING = “ acquisitions or concessions that are one or more of the following : i n violation of human rights , particularly the equal rights of women ;

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LAND GRABBING

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  1. LAND GRABBING A new colonialism?

  2. DefiningLand grabbing…. LAND GRABBING= “acquisitions or concessionsthat are one or more of the following: • in violation of human rights, particularly the equalrights of women; • notbased on free, prior, and informedconsent of the affectedland-users; • notbased on a thoroughassessment or in disregard of social, economic and environmentalimpacts, including the way the are gendered; • notbased on transparentcontracts; • notbased on effectivedemocratic planning, independentoversight and meaningfulparticipation. (International Land Coalition, Tirana 2011)

  3. Year 2011 (Land Matrix Database): -1217 agriculturallanddeals; -83.2 millionhectares of land in developingcountries; -1.7% of the world agricultural area. BUT it’sdifficult to estimate the true scale of the phenomenon! LAST TEN YEARS: the rate of acquisitionsremainedlowuntil 2005, afteritacceleratedgreatlypeaking in 2009 and slowing down again in 2010 and followingyears. Whichfactors are driving the currentpush?

  4. Food security Expansion of agriculturalfrontiers and trade, innovations in production  greatsupply, foodpricesdecline. BUT in the last tenyears: • populationgrowth; • increasingurbanizationrates; • changes in diet.  pushing up global fooddemand. Thisdemandwasn’tsupported by a sufficientsupply. Why?: • reduction of agricultural production; • negative environmentalexternalities (soilquality, water supply, etc.); • lack of infrastructures.

  5. The resultwas an increase of foodpricesand consequently a strong foodinsecurity. Source:Food and Agriculture Organization  The acquisition of landbecame a possiblestrategicsolution for developedcountries.

  6. 2) Biofuels Production of liquidbiofuelsis a key driver of muchrecentlandacquisition: • Energy security: the availability of cheap oilasbeen a major factor in the rise of agriculturalproductivity; betweengenuary 2007 and july 2008 oilpricestrebled notonlyaffected the production, processing and distribution of agriculturalcommodities, butalsoincreased the demand of biofuels. • Ruraldevelopment: a new and profitableland use providedbetteropportunities for farmers and employees. • Export development: for countriesbiofuels are an opportunity to develop new export markets and improve the trade balance.

  7. 3) Non-foodagriculturalcommodities Some countriesdepend on imports of non-foodagriculturalcommoditiesas part of theirindistrializion model and theirrole in global production and in consumptionsystem. Commoditiesthat are subject to thiskind of pressure include: • Rubber • Cotton • Sugar • Coffee • Cocoa • Tea

  8. 4) Expectations of returns Expectations of competitive returns from agriculture or landseem to be the first driver for private sectorinvolvement; with agriculture commodity pricesrising the acquisition of land for agricultural production lookslike an attactive option of business, throughdirectacquisitions or shares in companies holding land, producingfertilizers or otherwiseinvolved in agriculturalactivities. 5) Host countriesincentives Amongmanydevelopingcountriesthereis a renewedinterest in agricultureas a source of emplyment, growth and revenue.  foreigninvestments are seenascapable of bringing new tecnology, developingproductivepotential, facilitatinginfrastructuredevelopment and creatingemplyment.

  9. The protagonists • Target countries There are manydifferencesbetweencountriesthat are targeted by investorsbutit’spossible to identify some keycharacteristics: • Poverty • Institutionalweakness • Agro-ecologicalcharacteristics: yield gaps and landavailability • Hunger and high agricultural shares of GDP The demand for land by foreignactorsseems to be widespread in developingcountriesaround the world: • Africancountries • Asia • Latin America

  10. Investor countries We can identifyfourdifferenttypes of investors: • Private companies • Public or state ownedenterprises • Investments funds • Private-public partnerships … and three separate groups of investors: • emergingcountries • Gulfstates • the Global North NB: othertwoimportantexamples of investorsinvolved are: Domesticpartners and multiple investors.

  11. Consequences Losinglandmeanslosingfood security and opportunities for development landisnotonly an importantproductiveassetbuthas multiple otheruseswhich are vital to family security: • landoftenservesas an importantsafety net to fall back on whenothereconomicventuresfail; • land can alsoprovidenuts, fruits, medicinal and kitchenherbs, timber, and roofing and fancingmaterials; • it’salso a space for social, cultural, spiritual and cerimonialevents and it’sessential for sustaining the identity and well-being of a community; • lack of access to and control over landisalso a determinant of gender inequality.

  12. Case studies: North Sudan and Ghana

  13. Sincethe 2008 surge in foodprices, foreigninterest in agriculturallandhasincreased and, in lessthan a year, investorshaveexpressedinterest in acquiring some 56 millionhectares of land, of which 29 millionwere in Sub-Saharian Africa in 2010. Customarylandtenureis the dominantsystem of land use and ownership in bothNorth Sudan and Ghana. Almost 80% of the land in bothcountriesisheldcustomarily. The restisstatutorilyowned. Butsignificantdifferencesexistbetween the experiences of thesecountries, especially in terms of the legalrecognition of customaryinterest in land: • while the state recognizescustomarylandrights in Ghana and accordstraditionalauthoritieslegalrecognition, the state in North Sudan doesnot. • whiletitlingseems to improve the chances of obtainingaccess to credit in Sudan, thereis no evidence to show thattitleholders in Ghana havebetteraccess to credit.

  14. Land grabbing in North Sudanstarted in the nineteenthcentury and it’sstillgoing on today. Between 2004 and 2008, totallandgrabsamounted to 4 millionhectares of land. The governmentisactivelyinvolved in expropriatingland from customaryholders and givingit to investors, bothforeign and local. Private landownersmay be expropriatedtoo, butthey are usuallycompensatedevenifcompensationisnotusuallypayed. Governmentlandgrabs are evidently the case in Ghana. Between 1850 and 2004, the state executed 1336 instruments to acquirelandcompulsorily. State landismostlyunderutilized and generallysold to state officials. Many plots of land are alsosharedamong party membersand individualswho are believed to be closelyaffiliated to the government. In addiction, governmentssometimesgrant state land to peoplewhovoted for theirfavouritepoliticians, whiledispossessingpeoplewhovotedagainst. Besides, many agents of the state use state land in ways that are contrary to the provisions of the consitution.

  15. The role of nationalgovernments Eachgovernmentshouldensurethatlandinvestments are in the interest of its community and protectit from abusive practices. Unfortunately: • In manycasesnegotiations are notmandated by the landrightsholders and oftentit’s the governmentwhichnegotiates with a disputed mandate from the peoplewhoselandrights are atstake; • Rightsholdersdon’thave the access to accurate information; lack of transparencyalsoundermines public scrutiny and open the door to corruption; • The pressures on landhave put more strain on the legalsystems of many target countries investors can exploit the confusion to evade the requirements or trumthem by alligning with the government.

  16. The onlypossiblesolutionisthe respect of the principles of free, prior and informedconsentwhichis the key for goodgovernance and povertyreduction. • In practicelocalgovernmentsshouldpromote a fair access to the land: • introducing a moratorium on the trasfer of property of land, untilitwon’t be defined a national management systemthatwillrespect human rights; • implementinglandreforms and redistributinglands; • permittingwomen to haveaccess to the land and control it, according to the family law; • requiring more transparency in agriculturalprojects and contracts.

  17. The mothercountries of the firmsshould: • assume the responsability of whattheirfirms do abroad; • require more transparency. • Investorsin agriculturalprojectsshould: • respect and protect the rights on land; • guarantee complete information to localcommunities • involve littleproducersofferingfairecontracts; • provide an evaluation on environmental impact of agricultureprojects. • Public opinion and mediashould: • use theirpower of vote, consume and investment to askgovernments and firms to contrastlandgrabbing; • promotetransparency.

  18. … and internationalinstitutions Whennationalaccountabilitymechanismsfail, internationalinstrumentsshouldprevent abusive or irresponsiblepractices. Theseinstruments are: • human rightsconventionswhichcontainclearobligations in relation to the negotiation of large-scale landacquisition; • UN interventionin order to propose measures to fill the governance gap in applying human rightsprinciples to business operation frameworkbuilt on the ideal of “protect, respect and remedy”; • other global instrumentsthat can provideeffectiveprotectionagainst corporate abuse of power, like OECD guide lines or rules, standards and mechanismsthathavebeendevelopedwithin the private sectoritself.

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