Land Grabs in Africa: Good for the Natives?

With one billion people around the world hungry, can we really afford to let perfectly fertile land lie fallow? Over at the Guardian, Kate Allen asks some hard questions about the growing land grab trend in Africa.

Financiers are coming from wide and far to invest their money in dirt cheap farmland. In addition to the usual suspects -- China, Gulf states, bio-fuel producers -- pension funds burned by Wall Street are glancing toward these same deals. After all, who could really beat the $1 per hectare, 99 year lease offers some of the continent’s desperate countries are putting up?

Allen argues that, all this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If done right, the African nations can benefit from introduction of new farming technologies which can then result in higher yields and therefore more food. Small scale subsistence farming, which employs a majority of Africans, has shown itself to be woefully inadequate in stemming widespread food scarcity. These investments have the potential to bring badly needed jobs. Recipient country governments should know better and fight to broker a deal that is mutually beneficial for both the investors and their people. Yes, all true.

However, what the evidence shows so far is that the investors entering these markets couldn’t care less about what the host country gets out of these deals. They are looking into countries where regulations are lax and can easily be manipulated. Majority are there to exploit the resources as cheaply as possible and for as long as possible. Most avoid paying taxes and they certainly don’t give back to the communities among which they work. Food produced is sold on international markets and does little to alleviate local shortages.

Worse, the people whose lives are irrevocably affected by these land deals do not get consulted. They have little or no voice in what happens. The transactions are generally shrouded in secrecy with very little information available for outside observers who want to assess their impact.

I agree with Allen. In theory, the land rush phenomena doesn’t have to be a bad thing for Africa. In reality though, it is. Here is hoping, this gloomy picture continues to shift and brighter prospects emerge. But given the level of incompetency the African governments involved have shown, I am not betting on that.

Photo Credit:  meaduva