Uganda: Nature reserve dispute turns deadly
At least one person has been killed in Uganda as government troops evict an estimated 6,000 squatters from a nature reserve where authorities say the people are living illegally. The local people claim...
View ArticleSouth Africa: Policy papers bring land, Constitution into ANC's focus
The ANC released its policy discussion documents in Johannesburg on Monday, saying it would take the country into its 'second transition'. Land reform and adjustments to 'elements of the Constitution'...
View ArticleLiberia: The plantation blues
On a recent hot Saturday afternoon, tempers flared outside a school building in the village of Madina as organizers tried to work out who could and could not attend the meeting inside between the...
View ArticleTanzania: Contract farming law to curb rogue investors
The government will soon table a Contract Farming Bill in parliament, seeking to enact a law to protect smallholder farmers and rural communities against exploitation by private investors. Principal...
View ArticleGlobal: The new wave of land grabbing by extractive industries
Chances are that, no matter where you live on Earth, land acquisitions for mining, oil and gas might soon be at your door, says this report from the Gaia Foundation. 'This trend is now a major driver...
View ArticleLiberia: Land deals with foreign firms could sow seeds of conflict
Pa Sando, the town chief of Konja, in Grand Cape Mount county in Liberia, looks out across the farmland. 'I used to pick cocoa on this farm for more than 30 years. My grandfather planted it for us,' he...
View ArticleEthiopia: The thorny business of rose exports to Europe
Over the last seven years Karuturi Global has acquired rights to 311,700 hectares of land in Gambela and Bako region in Ethiopia for the purpose of agricultural development. But Karuturi’s practices in...
View ArticleGlobal: The long term value of land
As investors turn to land-based assets and commodities, large areas of fertile land are being acquired around the world to produce biofuels, food commodity crops, timber and develop extractive...
View ArticleEthiopia: Leaked map reveals Ethiopia’s mass evictions plan
Ethiopian authorities have inadvertently revealed the existence of highly ambitious plans to resettle Lower Omo Valley tribes who stand in the way of a massive plantations scheme. The map was included...
View ArticleUganda: Police disperse land protest
Gunshots rocked Amuru District as the police tried to disperse about 100 people who had crossed from Adjumani District to the disputed border area of Elegu, to reportedly distribute plots of land among...
View ArticleGlobal: Negotiations on food security completed
On 9 March, the Committee on Word Food Security (CFS) completed the intergovernmental negotiations of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests in the context of national...
View ArticleSierra Leone: Land deals beginning to stir discontent
Foreign land investment is on the rise in Sierra Leone and, as with many of its neighbours, the government wants more companies to come in to boost the economy and spur much-needed agricultural...
View ArticleGlobal: Report highlights land grab water concerns
A new report by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) points out that millions of hectares of farmland in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America have been leased to foreign countries,...
View ArticleEgypt: Citadel Capital part of land-grab in South Sudan
Saudi Arabia and China are buying up significant parcels of agricultural land in South Sudan. So is Egypt. Egypt’s Citadel Capital is buying land in South Sudan, with designs on agricultural production...
View ArticleGlobal: UN human rights body criticises Canada over resource extraction
The Canadian government has not addressed the issue of persistent poverty among indigenous peoples, nor implemented the right to free, prior and informed consent, before undertaking projects that...
View ArticleGlobal: UN moves to curb farmland grabs
The UN has proposed that countries set limits on the size of agriculture land sales to regulate the growing trend of so-called farmland grabs. The new voluntary guidelines won the consensus of nearly...
View ArticleSouth Africa: Rescuing emerging farmers in South Africa?
The South African agriculture economy has little or no room for emerging farmers; with no strong support system, being an emerging farmer in South Africa can be a hopeless adventure, writes Davison...
View ArticleDRC: Landmines hurting farmers’ livelihoods
Landmines planted about a decade ago in parts of Kabalo territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) southeastern Katanga Province are adversely affecting farming livelihoods, and an important...
View ArticleSierra Leone: SOCFIN land investment brief by the Oakland Institute
In 2011, Socfin Agricultural Company Sierra Leone Ltd. (Socfin SL) secured 6,500 hectares (ha) of prime farmland for rubber and oil palm plantations in Malen chiefdom in Pujehun district in the south...
View ArticleSierra Leone: Action for Large scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT)...
A two-day National Conference on Land Owners and Land Users affected by large scale investments in agriculture organized by the Sierra Leone Network on the Right to Food (SiLNoRF) and Green Scenery,...
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