By Sonkita Conteh, Director, Sierra Leone Program, Namati

Three years ago I wrote about how communities in Sierra Leone were getting the short end of the stick in large-scale land transactions. Many did not understand the provisions of the complex lease agreements they were signing. Not only are these leases legally complicated, they are sometimes signed under pressure and are not always translated into a community’s local language. 

By Paul van der Molen, emeritus professor, ITC, University of Twente

Despite the fact that land is intrinsically fixed in space, a new transnational market for land is born. Indeed, data from the Land Matrix suggests that in the last 16 years 77.5 million hectares of land – a surface slightly smaller than the entire Mozambique – have been transferred to international investors or are currently under negotiation. More than 140 countries are involved in this international market for land either as investor country, or as target country, or both.

It was December and the school grounds were empty. Students and staff of Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi were home for the holidays, enjoying the break from lessons during the hot, sticky days.

At first no one noticed when builders moved onto the property with bricks and cement. Within two days they had built an impenetrable wall around the playground, cutting off the school buildings from the large grassy spot where students once played on the swings.

By:  Katie Reytar, Peter Veit and Nicholas Tagliarino - August 09, 2016

 

By Ruth Hall, Associate Professor, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, and Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

King Leopold’s Ghost and the 21st century scramble for Africa’s farms and foods

AID AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT / CORPORATE POWER / FARMING AND AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT / FOOD / NEOLIBERALISM

BY: Joan Baxter

By Rachael Knight, Director, Community Land Protection Program, Namati

 

New research examining the geographical coverage of international investment treaties raises concern about how they might affect public action to address 'land grabbing'.

It is increasingly clear that the international legal arrangements governing the global economy can have direct implications for land governance. 

New research examining the geographical coverage of international investment treaties raises concern about how they might affect public action to address 'land grabbing'.

It is increasingly clear that the international legal arrangements governing the global economy can have direct implications for land governance. 

Last spring Africa’s biggest sugar producer, Illovo Sugar, adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to land grabs. In November, it published a roadmap for how it plans to implement it.