On July 9, 2011, the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) became the world’s newest nation. Despite the significant strides that South Sudanese have made since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, South Sudan remains one of the least developed countries in the world. In order to meet its developmental challenges, the government of South Sudan has begun promoting large-scale private investments as a shortcut to rapid economic development.
Land Rights
The purchase and lease of vast tracts of land from poor, developing countries by wealthier nations and international private investors has led to debate about whether land investment is a tool for development or force of displacement.
The Facts:
Over the last four years, there has been a significant increase in land-based investment, both in terms of the number of investment projects and the total land area allocated. Industrialized nations and private foreign investors have driven demand for arable land in developing regions, particularly in Africa, but also in South America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Governments are interested in the lands for purposes of food security and biofuel production. Both governments and private investors are attracted by policy reforms that have improved the investment climate in developing countries, as well as arbitrage opportunities afforded by the extremely low cost of leasing land in these regions.
While only fractions of arable land in developing regions are being used for agriculture, demand for strategic swats next to irrigation and shipping sites is growing with greater investment. These areas and other lands are frequently in use even though occupants’ have no legal rights to the land or access to legal institutions. As demand for land assets increases and governments and multilateral institutions promote investment in national lands, displacement and affected livelihoods are becoming serious sources of international concern.
What we are doing about it:
Media coverage of land acquisitions has been sparse and lacking in investigative detail. The Oakland Institute is committed to increasing transparency about land deals including the terms of negotiation, theoretical consequences of investment, real impact on the ground, and ultimate impact on development in several African countries.
Agricultural investment in Zambia is on the rise as the government of this Southern African country is quietly marketing and planning the development of at least 1.5 million hectares (ha) of its land. Abundant supplies of land and water, a “positive” investment climate, and political stability are all touted as incentives for investment. This report contains an analysis of agricultural investment trends in Zambia today.
Mozambique’s history of Portuguese colonialism, three wars, and then the imposition by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund of a harsh neo-liberal economic model led the government in the 1990s to accept the idea that the only way to promote development and end poverty was through encouraging foreign investment. Mozambique was identified by the World Bank as one of five sparsely populated African countries with large tracts of land available for rainfed cultivation. After 2000 rising food and fuel prices and new climate change-related attention on forests triggered the interest of investors in Mozambique, particularly for trees (for paper, timber and carbon credits) and agrofuels (notably sugar and jatropha).
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June 13, 2013
Yaoundé - 13 juin 2013: Le Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) et le Réseau de Lutte Contre la Faim (RELUFA), deux ONG Camerounaises, ont saisi ce jour le Gouvernement américain d’un recours afin qu’une enquête urgente soit ouverte, dans le cadre des Principes directeurs de l’OCDE relatifs aux entreprises multinationales, sur les allégations de corruption autour des opérations de la société SGSOC, filiale de la firme américaine Herakles Farms, qui envisage de mettre e
June 13, 2013
Yaoundé - June 13, 2013: Today the Center for Environment and Development (CED) and The Network to Fight Against Hunger (RELUFA), two Cameroonian NGOs, filed a complaint with the American Government via its OECD National Contact Point concerning allegations of corruption in SGSOC’s—an affiliate of the American company Herakles Farms—proposed 73,000 Ha palm oil plantation in South West Camero
Quick Facts:
56 million – total hectares of land (nearly the size of France) acquired in the developing world by international governments and investors since 2008.
70% of the population – in sub-Saharan Africa lives on their traditional lands that, because of colonial heritage, are classified as state lands in independent Africa. This is why governments believe that they can give away their land without consultation or legal redress.
$1 per hectare per year – the cost to private investors and foreign governments of leasing land in Ethiopia in 2008.
Recent Media
June 9, 2013
May 29, 2013
