SOYMB and our companion blog Africa's Socialist Banner have previously reported on "land-grabbing" so we should not be shocked by the latest Oxfam report that states investors and biofuel producers have taken over land around the world that could feed nearly one billion people.
Analysis by Oxfam of several thousand land deals completed in the last decade shows that an area eight times the size of the UK has been left idle by speculators or is being used largely to grow biofuels for US or European vehicles. According to the report More than 60% of investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious hunger problems. But two-thirds of those investors plan to export everything they produce on the land. Nearly 60% of the deals have been to grow crops that can be used for biofuels. Oxfam dismisses the claim made by the World Bank and others that lots of available land is unused and waiting for development. "It is simply a myth. Most agricultural land deals target quality farmland, particularly land that is irrigated and offers good access to markets. It is clear that much of this land was already being used for small-scale farming, pastoralism and other types of natural resource use."
The International Land Coalition says 106m hectares (261m acres) of land in developing countries were acquired by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010. Nearly 30% of Liberia has been handed out in large-scale concessions in the past five years, and up to 63% of all arable land in Cambodia has been passed over to private companies.
Little, if any, of these land investments benefit local people or help to fight hunger, says Oxfam. "Instead, the land is either being left idle, as speculators wait for its value to increase … or it is predominantly used to grow crops for export, often for use as biofuels."
Oxfam's chief executive, Barbara Stocking, 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."
Her understanding of economic reality is however severely lacking when she goes on to declare "Investment should be good news for developing countries – not lead to greater poverty, hunger and hardship." Capitalism is, of course, based upon exploitation of the many for the profit and benefit of the few.
Analysis by Oxfam of several thousand land deals completed in the last decade shows that an area eight times the size of the UK has been left idle by speculators or is being used largely to grow biofuels for US or European vehicles. According to the report More than 60% of investments in agricultural land by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010 were in developing countries with serious hunger problems. But two-thirds of those investors plan to export everything they produce on the land. Nearly 60% of the deals have been to grow crops that can be used for biofuels. Oxfam dismisses the claim made by the World Bank and others that lots of available land is unused and waiting for development. "It is simply a myth. Most agricultural land deals target quality farmland, particularly land that is irrigated and offers good access to markets. It is clear that much of this land was already being used for small-scale farming, pastoralism and other types of natural resource use."
The International Land Coalition says 106m hectares (261m acres) of land in developing countries were acquired by foreign investors between 2000 and 2010. Nearly 30% of Liberia has been handed out in large-scale concessions in the past five years, and up to 63% of all arable land in Cambodia has been passed over to private companies.
Little, if any, of these land investments benefit local people or help to fight hunger, says Oxfam. "Instead, the land is either being left idle, as speculators wait for its value to increase … or it is predominantly used to grow crops for export, often for use as biofuels."
Oxfam's chief executive, Barbara Stocking, 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."
Her understanding of economic reality is however severely lacking when she goes on to declare "Investment should be good news for developing countries – not lead to greater poverty, hunger and hardship." Capitalism is, of course, based upon exploitation of the many for the profit and benefit of the few.
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