Contains framework for analysing the gender impacts of foreign investment in agriculture; gender analysis of the certification criteria of voluntary sustainability standards and responsible investment frameworks; do voluntary sustainability standards improve gender equality?; lessons for responsible investment frameworks and recommendations.

This report draws lessons from experience of using legal processes to secure local resource rights within the context of foreign investment projects in Africa. Security of local resource rights is a major challenge in many parts of Africa. The analysis of relevant law reveals that resource rights associated with more powerful interests (foreign investment) tend to enjoy greater legal protection compared to those held by local resource users.

Una vez más, por cuarto año consecutivo, Land Matrix Lac pone a disposición de la sociedad en general una herramienta que busca visibilizar diversas situaciones de acaparamiento de tierras en América Latina. A partir de los casos de grandes transacciones cargados en la base de datos de Land Matrix Lac, los investigadores de 7 institutos académicos de diversos países de la región, demuestran con sus estudios los alcances de los efectos sociales y ambientales de las grandes transacciones de tierra y las posibilidades de mitigar el acaparamiento en la región.

Examines political and social dynamics of foreign agricultural investment in Ethiopia. Concludes that this expansion is part of a government move towards an export-led development strategy, so the micro-benefits come at the cost of increased risks to those living in the vicinity of new investments, particularly politically marginalised pastoralist populations.

Includes an ethnography and the cultural economy of land grabs in Zambia and the role of foreign investments in Zambia. Examines the Chayton investment in Mkushi District and asks who does Chayton feed?

Foreign investment in Ethiopia’s forestry sector is currently limited, but agricultural investments that affect forests, largely through forest clearing, are commonplace. Describes the nature of forest investments and the challenges of implementing them. New tenure arrangements will have significant implications for communities on the forest-farm interface. Looks at Arsi Forest area, Oromia, to investigate potential for conflict over competing claims.

Este nuevo dossier consta de 10 trabajos, todos basados en la información generada por el relevamiento de los procesos de acaparamiento de tierras promovido por Land Matrix en varios países de América Latina.