04 July 2009

Countries used to go to war to get land and resources

Now some of them just buy the land they need:
The UN's food and agricultural organisation and other analysts estimate that nearly 20m hectares (50m acres) of farmland – an area roughly half the size of all arable land in Europe – has been sold or has been negotiated for sale or lease in the last six months. Around 10m hectares was bought last year. The land grab is being blamed on wealthy countries with concerns about food security...

Some of the largest deals include South Korea's acquisition of 700,000ha in Sudan, and Saudi Arabia's purchase of 500,000ha in Tanzania. The Democratic Republic of the Congo expects to shortly conclude an 8m-hectare deal with a group of South African businesses to grow maize and soya beans as well as poultry and dairy farming.

India has lent money to 80 companies to buy 350,000ha in Africa. At least six countries are known to have bought large landholdings in Sudan, one of the least food-secure countries in the world.

Other countries that have acquired land in the last year include the Gulf states, Sweden, China and Libya. Those targeted include not only fertile countries such as Brazil, Russia and Ukraine, but also poor countries like Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Zambia.

More at the Guardian. Even within our lifetimes, food and water resources are going to become increasingly valuable. The cynic in me says that when these purchases are made, the $$ goes to African governments that are corrupt, and through them to a few bureaucrats and politicians, who then salt it away in foreign banks. The people of the selling countries likely get nothing of significance.

3 comments:

  1. You are probably right. On the other hand, at any time, the countries involved can "nationalize their resources" and take the land back from all private and/or foreign owners. There's been a lot of precedent on that (Venezuela recently, for example)

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  2. Well, yes, they can re-nationalize their resources, but as the history of Iran and South America show, if you pull that little trick against the United States, you'll wind up with an overthrown government or a small war.

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  3. Often, this is true, and I could cite multiple examples. But many times, the American companies have lost their overseas investments due to nationalization, without the U.S. government going to war to prevent it.

    Nevertheless, I don't think some of the other countries doing overseas investment in land have the same ability to prevent a nationalization.

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