Unravelling the "Land Grab": How to protect the Livelihoods of the Poor

Oxfam Novib wants to come to grips with the land issue –
trying to understand the implications of the capital-rich countries and companies endeavouring to purchase or lease large tracts of agricultural land in resource-rich developing
States.Some general questions that have come up in internal debates start even from the premises whether this is a good or a bad thing. As the paradox says, on the one hand capital
injections in developing countries’ agricultural sector are highly necessary. On the other hand, one could ask himself whether the purchase or long-term lease of land really qualifies as an agricultural investment or is rather a form of ‘neo-colonialism’ in which rich States rule the enjoyment of access to and utilisation of natural resources, whilst the developing countries itself are loosing out on the benefits of the outcomes in terms of production and the marketing of the commodities.

• Author: Verie Aarts
• Year: 2009