Global land grabbing: growing demand for land in the wake of food price shocks

Land grabbing is the “transfer of the right to own or use the land from local communities to foreign investors through large-scale land acquisitions”. Land-related deals have dramatically increased since 2005, peaking in 2009. Since 2007, 45 million hectares of land might have been acquired according to the World Bank, mainly in Africa and Asia, having significant social and environmental costs. These land grabs also affect all the associated resources, especially water, which can be the hidden targets of the deal.

The increased purchase of foreign land has been understood as a new form of colonialism, aiming at securing the food and energy requirements of the grabbing country. The rapid development of the phenomenon is closely linked to issues where environmental factors played a role, such as the 2007-2008 food price crisis and the increasing demand for biofuels. Guardian journalist John Vidal introduced the term “green grabbing” to characterise “the appropriation of land and resources for environmental ends”.

Land acquisitions have also been driven by financial incentives and favourable regulations, notably novel instruments lowering the market risk and the promotion of land acquisition deals by international organisations as a way to bring capital to under-developed regions. These investment opportunities have added to the states' fragility risks which might play a significant role in the land grabbing phenomenon.

Cases of land grabbing in the ECC Factbook

This is the case in Ethiopia, where large-scale land acquisitions by foreign and domestic investors have been motivated by these environmental factors and attractive land lease conditions. These projects frequently infringe on land traditionally used by local communities and thus threaten the livelihoods of some 650,000 farmers and pastoralists. Some local communities have been evicted without consultation or adequate compensation to make way for large plantations. This trend contributes to landlessness and impoverishment of small farmers, creating grievances against public authorities and in some cases leading to protests and their violent repression by state security forces.

The situation is similar in Kenya where large-scale land acquisitions added fuel to existing land use tensions between the delta’s communities. In several Asian countries like the Philippines, Myanmar and Cambodia, rural populations also suffer from land tenure insecurity and are thus directly affected by land grabbing.

Outlook

Climate change is very likely to impact crop yields negatively in many parts of the world. The changing weather patterns are likely to worsen income insecurity among small farmers and make them more likely to lease their land to foreign entities. Lack of investment in rural areas in many developing countries makes them more vulnerable to large-scale land acquisitions. It is thus important to understand this type of conflict and the potential resolution strategies.

To learn more about land grabbing and other environmental conflicts, check out the ECC Factbook.