The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty...

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Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Washington, D.C. May 5, 2009 Presented by Alexandra Spieldoch Director, Trade and Global Governance Program

Transcript of The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty...

Page 1: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions

Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

“Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Washington, D.C. May 5, 2009

Presented by Alexandra SpieldochDirector, Trade and Global Governance

Program

Page 2: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

Our current food insecurity

• 963 million people • Major setback to

hunger eradication • MDG commitments: ½

by 2000• Investment in

agriculture is urgently needed

Page 3: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

Investment in land acquisition

• Interest from governments and firms in long-term leases or ownership of land abroad

• Such deals not all established: many in negotiation or conflict

• Nevertheless, interest in overseas land acquisition efforts is growing

Page 4: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

Increase in land acquisition efforts catching multilateral attention

• IFPRI has just released a new report• FAO-commissioned pieces• World Bank to publish codes of

conduct• UN Special Rapporteur on the Right

to Food – mission to Madascar

Page 5: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

What factors to be considered?• Clear need for investment• For whom and for what?• Overseas land

acquisitions raise questions relating to ownership, access and control

• What implications for land and people?

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Types of historical overseas land acquisition

• Colonization• Tourism• Contract farming• Natural resource

extraction

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Current investments• Outsourcing for food, feed and fuel• Investments tend to flow from richer to

poorer• Not necessarily “North-South”

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Current investments: examples

• China seeking offshore biofuels and food production in Africa

• South Korean food production in Mongolia and Russia

• Gulf Corporation Council outsourcing food production to Sudan and Pakistan

• Kenya to supply produce to Qatar

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Current investments: Two main “push” factors for investors

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What do host countries hope to gain?

• Infrastructure investment

• Access to research and technology

• Credit for markets• Ideally, local food

system support

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Risks

• Lopsided power relationships between investors and host countries

• Host government conflict: within itself, and with its own people

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More risks…

• High quality land could be diverted from communities – assumptions about marginal and unused land could misrepresent the needs of communities

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Some more risks….

• Some targeted countries receive food aid, not in a position to refuse investment

• Land tenure reform easily undermined by market-led approaches

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Political Conflict

• Land ownership disputes have long and violent history

• Recent disputes have chilled deals from going through– Daewoo &

Madagascar

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Investment measures

• Incentives offered by host governments– Amending national land laws– Tax incentives– Few or no performance

requirements– Relaxed regulatory oversight

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Community-level concerns

• Smallholder producers among most vulnerable

• ‘ Policy takers rather than policy makers’

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Gender discrimination

• Women seldom possess legal land rights

• Women typically lack collateral to secure credit

• Paid work often temporary, low-paid, and insecure

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Land Degradation

• Land degradation affects more than 900 million people worldwide and as much as two-thirds of the world’s agricultural land.

• As much as 1.8 billion people could be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025.

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Moving Forward

1. Articulate a national vision for agriculture that leaves space for local priorities and smallholder needs

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What kind of investment do Smallholders Need?

• Credit• Technology that promotes sustainable

agriculture for long-term food security• Access to land• Bargaining power• A fair price for their production• Access to markets

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Moving Forward2. Review land use and availability ,

specific nature of land and promote land rights

Page 22: The Social Costs of Overseas Land Acquisitions Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation “Land Grab: the Race for the World’s Farmland” Woodrow.

Moving Forward

3. Food Security First

• Governments should enact measures to prioritize food security at the domestic level as the top priority

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Moving Forward

4. Adopt a rights-based approach to guide investment

– Restrict governments and corporations from impinging on right to food

– Free, prior, informed consent and full disclosure

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Moving Forward

4. Ensure broadly-based engagement in the various guidelines and best practice codes

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Acknowledgements & Questions

• Special thanks to the Woodrow Wilson Center

• Thank you to the speakers and the participants

• Q & A