The Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI) published a study in August 2012 titled "Drivers and Actors in Large-scale Farmland Acquisitions in Sudan." The author is Martin Keulertz, a researcher at King's College London.
The study focuses as much on water as land. The study concludes: "Whether or not a hidden agenda is behind 'land grabs', the paper has illustrated that water resources are at the heart of investors' minds."
Click here to read the study.
Showing posts with label land leases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label land leases. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
China-Africa Testimony
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, held a hearing on 29 March 2012 on China-Africa relations. The witnesses included Donald Yamamoto, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the Department of State, Carolyn Bartholomew, Commissioner, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Stephen Hayes, President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, J. Peter Pham, Director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council and myself.
My testimony looked at US-China economic competition in Africa, the extraction of natural resources from Africa, land leasing in Africa, the promotion of democracy and human rights in Africa and possible US-China cooperation on UN peacekeeping, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. You can read my testimony here.
My testimony looked at US-China economic competition in Africa, the extraction of natural resources from Africa, land leasing in Africa, the promotion of democracy and human rights in Africa and possible US-China cooperation on UN peacekeeping, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. You can read my testimony here.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Ethiopia, Lifestock and Food Security
Brighter Green, a New York-based public policy action organization, used climate change as the point of entry to explore the effects of the expansion and intensification of the livestock sector in Ethiopia for food security, resource use, equity and sustainability. Titled Climate, Food Security, and Growth: Ethiopia's Complex Relationship with Livestock, the study appeared in 2011.
Brighter Green's research examines whether Ethiopia can industrialize its livestock sector, primarily to serve export markets, without forestalling or derailing development prospects for a population that is expected to reach 150-170 million by 2050. It also investigates whether such a path is viable when large numbers of Ethiopians already have difficulty gaining access to good soils, grazing land, and water. Food security is a huge national challenge and the effects of climate change are increasingly felt.
Brighter Green questions whether Ethiopia's expansion and intensification of its animal-agriculture sector is constraining its chances of coping effectively with drought and erratic weather. Africa will be among the most affected by global warming, even though it has contributed almost nothing to the problem. Africa's greenhouse gas emissions constitute less than 5 percent of the world's total, and Ethiopia's contribution is less than one-tenth of one percent.
Brighter Green recommends that the Ethiopian government adopt a long-term plan for achieving food security that emphasizes nutritious and sustainably produced foods for human consumption, reassess its heavy reliance on livestock, and end policies that encourage further industrialization of this sector, while working to expand domestic capacity to produce vegetables, fruits, pulses, and cereals for Ethiopians.
Brighter Green's research examines whether Ethiopia can industrialize its livestock sector, primarily to serve export markets, without forestalling or derailing development prospects for a population that is expected to reach 150-170 million by 2050. It also investigates whether such a path is viable when large numbers of Ethiopians already have difficulty gaining access to good soils, grazing land, and water. Food security is a huge national challenge and the effects of climate change are increasingly felt.
Brighter Green questions whether Ethiopia's expansion and intensification of its animal-agriculture sector is constraining its chances of coping effectively with drought and erratic weather. Africa will be among the most affected by global warming, even though it has contributed almost nothing to the problem. Africa's greenhouse gas emissions constitute less than 5 percent of the world's total, and Ethiopia's contribution is less than one-tenth of one percent.
Brighter Green recommends that the Ethiopian government adopt a long-term plan for achieving food security that emphasizes nutritious and sustainably produced foods for human consumption, reassess its heavy reliance on livestock, and end policies that encourage further industrialization of this sector, while working to expand domestic capacity to produce vegetables, fruits, pulses, and cereals for Ethiopians.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Land Leases in the Horn of Africa
Chatham House in London has added to the growing body of literature on land leasing, referred to by some as "land-grabbing" in the Horn of Africa. Jason Mosley authored a study titled Peace, Bread and Land: Agricultural Investments in Ethiopia and the Sudans dated January 2012.
The report concludes that those who suggest governments are the unwitting victims of "land-grabbing" is a misleading oversimplification. Although accurate information on many of these deals is extremely limited, the governments know what they are up to.
The report concludes that those who suggest governments are the unwitting victims of "land-grabbing" is a misleading oversimplification. Although accurate information on many of these deals is extremely limited, the governments know what they are up to.
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