Today it emerged that world leaders are to discuss what is being described as “land grabbing” or “neo-colonialism” at the G8 meeting next week. A spokesman for Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed that it would raise the issue: “We feel there should be a code of conduct for investment in farmland that will be a win-win situation for both producing and consuming countries,” he said.
Olivier De Schutter, special envoy for food at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “[The trend] is accelerating quickly. All countries observe each other and when one sees others buying land it does the same.”
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.
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.
De Schutter said that after the food crisis of 2008, many countries found food imports hit their balance of payments, “so now they want to insure themselves”.
Continue Reading Fears For The World’s Poor Countries as The Rich Grab Land to Grow Food
Edward:
Could you describe more? How can removing farm land from farming make money under carbon credits?
Catherine
It’s optimistic to think that farmland today will be farmland tomorrow. If an investor found it more profitable to not farm land to offset industry with carbon credits…etc. etc.
Wow, sovereignty and trust! Think of the markets we could enjoy! I dream of equity e-bays and prosper.com’s that the SEC can not shut down…
Ralph: good points. empire is in contradistinction to the local wisdom that has taken thousands of years to develop in different areas of the world. cultures, livelihoods are swept away continuously in the name of “progress” and paternalistic arrogance. now imagine if there was mutual respect of sovereignty what kind of trading relationships COULD exist – it COULD be amazing and beneficial to all involved.
All:
The link to the aformentioned quote re: DRC Congo is here:
http://200milesup.newsvine.com/_news/2006/12/08/474497-worlds-biggest-mining-rush-
In juxtoposition, look at this fact about DRC Congo in relation to hydroelectric power from tapping the immensely powerful water streams that feed the River Nile:
“The country has limited energy resources, but potential to generate enough power to run just about the entire African continent.”
Now mind you, although our skewed maps do not show it, Africa is THE largest continent on the planet. Never mind the amount of sun energy that can be tapped.
Look at this as well:
“A just-published report by RBC Capital Markets (RBCCM), penned by analyst Mark Smith, states that the DRC “is one of the most well endowed countries in the world with respect to mineral potential. After our recent RBC-sponsored field trip, we have taken a detailed look at the country’s mineral potential, and set that against the infrastructure challenges it faces if it is to unlock its vast resource wealth”.
Smith’s report reviews 11 companies with key operations in the DRC, which houses an estimated 80% of the world’s coltan (a colloquial name for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore comprising niobium and tantalum), 34% of its cobalt and 10% of its copper reserves. The country’s gold potential is virtually untouched, with the Congo craton being Africa’s largest under-explored region in terms of Archaean geology.”
These are resources that colonialism and neo-colonialism have denied Africans from using in the interest of their self-determination. This is also a primary reason for the genocide in the area(one which far outnumbers the German holocaust of Jews and others in the WWII era) – competing factions funded by “rich countries” fighting for resource control
This does not bode well for health or local empowerment…
One of the benefits of eating locally-produced food is that the plants and the people are attuned to each other; although this concept requires a wider definition of “life” and “intelligence” it does resolve the disparate dietary results found on the Weston A. Price website.
Indigenous populations, well aware of plant spirits in their diet, will be the losers when their local foods are replaced with high-protein, high-margin, storable, shippable, and “scientific” frankenfoods that have the soul bred out of them in their transition from co-creation to consumable to commodity.
Maybe Big Pharma can make vitamin supplements specific to each bio-region, complete with local “qi”, to sell to the foreign consumers to “beef up” their health quotas…
Then these pills could be covered under the various national health plans! Except, of course, in the U.S…
UN Agenda 21 plans, created years ago, now being implemented in order to control/contain food production by limiting available land for its growth. Nothing really new here, even though this is how the media presents it to the public.
One thing is for certain, their will be no discussion on how to curtail this practice at the upcoming G8 meeting. If anything, there will be charts presented that show progress as compared to planned goals to determine if they need to speed up their activity.
These guys are working according to a business plan and its associated schedules. There is no misunderstanding about what is occurring amongst anyone who will be attending this international meeting.