In the wave of efforts to encourage and support more “responsible” land investments, one aspect has been largely overlooked: are governments equipped with the legal and technical support needed to effectively negotiate and conclude investment contracts that lead to responsible outcomes?
DEFENCE LANDS ACQUISITION.
Ordinance to enable the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral in the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for War and the Secretary of State for Air severally to acquire Land in the Colony of Sierra Leone for the purposes of Defence.
The land grabbing issue has produced a plethora of debates ranging from ethical conduct of land grabbing agents, specifically concerning displacement, to evidence for and against positive externalities such as technological spill-overs and construction of infrastructure. An underexplored topic is the valuation of agricultural land and the compensatory payments made to land users, distinct from land owners, for the loss of their source of food security.
The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme officials in Ethiopia.
Sierra Leone recently attracted significant inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in export-oriented mining and agribusiness. These investments have usually involved large-scale land deals with local communities that have been facilitated and brokered by government officials, local politicians, and paramount chiefs. Affected people and communities were supposed to receive compensations for lost land and, in addition, they expected to find gainful employment opportunities with multinational companies.
In the wave of efforts to encourage and support more “responsible” land investments, one aspect has been largely overlooked: are governments equipped with the legal and technical support needed to effectively negotiate and conclude investment contracts that lead to responsible outcomes?
In peace-building and transitional justice literature economic restoration is considered central to sustainable peace in post-conflict societies. However, it is also widely recognised that many post-conflict states cannot afford mechanisms to provide restoration. Not only are many such states poor to begin with, but violent conflict further degrades their economic capacity. As a result, in their need to provide jobs, generate tax revenues, spur development and promote sustainable peace, many post-conflict states turn to alternative processes of economic restoration.
There is wide engagement with large-scale land deals in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly from the perspectives of development and international political economy. Recently, scholars have increasingly pointed to a gendered lacuna in this literature. Engagement with gender tends to focus on potential differential impacts for men and women, and it also flags the need for more detailed empirical research of specific land deals.
Investment into large-scale agribusiness projects in African post-conflict states is framed within broader economic reforms. On their surface, these projects boast of attracting much-needed infrastructure development, providing employment and shifts from subsistence agriculture to formal wage labor, and raising GDP.
A través de nuestro sólido motor de búsqueda, puede explorar cualquier elemento de los más de 64.800 recursos rigurosamente seleccionados en la Biblioteca de la Tierra. Si desea obtener una visión general de lo que es posible, siéntase libre de examinar la Guía de búsqueda.
