An agriculture company with Iowa ties should back out of a Tanzanian land deal if it can’t promise enough local jobs and won’t demand better government compensation for refugees who could be displaced to make room for large-scale farming, said the author of several reports critical of the deal.
Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, said Agrisol Energy LLC has negotiated a “sweetheart” deal that could harm an estimated 162,000 refugees, some of whom have had their homes and crops burned by government security officials.