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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 8, 2012 18:19:31 GMT 3
The most recent UNDP Human Development Report---I posted a link on another thread---highlights the effects of land-grabbing in developing countrries by rich countries. We should keep this in mind while we drive along those super-highways and cheer in those spanking new stadiums: Africa for Sale: The Land Grab Landmine.www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=877How land grabs in Africa could herald a new dystopian age of hunger.www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/28/africa-land-grabs-food-securityThe food rush: Rising demand in China and west sparks African land grab.www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/03/africa-land-grabAnalysis: Land grab or development opportunity?www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17099348Sierra Leone just leased half mil Hectare of Land to China for 50 years.Land grab in Africa, brought to you by India.www.goimonitor.com/story/land-grab-africa-brought-you-indiaHow African governments allow farmers to be pushed off their landwww.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/mar/02/african-governments-land-dealsEthiopia: Thousands driven out in land grab.www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/01/18/Ethiopia-Thousands-driven-out-in-land-grab/UPI-60071326912191/African land grab could lead to future water conflicts. www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028144.100-african-land-grab-could-lead-to-future-water-conflicts.htmlAre foreign investors colonising Africa?stream.aljazeera.com/story/are-foreign-investors-colonising-africa-0021551Africa: Growing Africa's Land.allafrica.com/stories/201207030260.htmlWhat about our great country? Here are a couple of examples: Biofuels land grab in Kenya's Tana Delta fuels talk of warwww.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/02/biofuels-land-grab-kenya-deltaFor the person who has the time, there is a lengthy report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that attempts to carefully look at the pros and cons. Land grab or development opportunity? ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/ak241e/ak241e.pdf But please note that this report was issued in 2009, and land-grabbing has rapidly accelerated since then. If you don't have the time, then here's a short, recent article that quickly hits some of the main points: Foreign Investments in Agriculture - “Land Grabbing”www.entwicklungshilfe3.de/fileadmin/entwicklungshilfe/img/Land_grab_article.pdfIt even mentions our great country. Note the location of these land deals. Kenya has been plagued by droughts in recent years with devastating effects on its agriculture sector. Sadly instead of addressing this issue, Kenya has opted to give up its farmland to foreign investors planning to grow plants (for export) that are used to produce bio-fuel; plants such as sugar cane and jatropha, which require a lot of water to grow. In order to satisfy the watering needs of these plants, Kenya allegedly made available 10,000 hectares to the Canadian company Bedford Bio fuels, for a pilot project to grow Jatropha and 28,000 hectares to G4 Industries Ltd. from the UK. The land provided to both companies is adjacent to the Tana River and situated in the Tana Delta which is considered as an important habitat for birds in Africa. As a Consequence of these land concessions the environment of the delta has been damaged. Less and less animals are being seen, which once densely populated that habitat. Furthermore, the local population has been displaced and entire communities have been dismantled. It has also been reported that Kenya concluded an agreement with Qatar to exploit 40,000 hectares [also in the Tana River Delta].This short report on Kenya is also interesting: Land Grab in Kenya: Implications for Small By Pauline Makutsa
Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Small-holder Farmerswww.sfoap.net/fileadmin/user_upload/sfoap/KB/docs/Report%20of%20Land%20Grab%20in%20Kenya.pdfQuote: In 2003, Dominion Group of companies of Oklahoma USA leased 2,300 ha of land for 25 years71 in the Yala Swamp ... A number of families have been evicted from the additional area of farmland claimed by Dominion even though these families have been living on that land for generations. Some farmers even possess registration documents claiming ownership of the land. Dominion offered to compensate these farmers with as little as KES 45,000 per ha which some of the farmers declined. To deal with these stubborn farmers Dominion flooded their farms, by opening the sluices of the weir that they had constructed with the aim of directing the flow of the tributary that feeds the swamp, and destroying their crops. |
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Post by jakaswanga on Sept 9, 2012 0:14:42 GMT 3
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Post by podp on Sept 9, 2012 17:42:16 GMT 3
The most recent UNDP Human Development Report---I posted a link on another thread---highlights the effects of land-grabbing in developing countrries by rich countries. We should keep this in mind while we drive along those super-highways and cheer in those spanking new stadiums: Africa for Sale: The Land Grab Landmine.www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=877How land grabs in Africa could herald a new dystopian age of hunger.www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/28/africa-land-grabs-food-securityThe food rush: Rising demand in China and west sparks African land grab.www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/03/africa-land-grabAnalysis: Land grab or development opportunity?www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17099348Sierra Leone just leased half mil Hectare of Land to China for 50 years.Land grab in Africa, brought to you by India.www.goimonitor.com/story/land-grab-africa-brought-you-indiaHow African governments allow farmers to be pushed off their landwww.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/mar/02/african-governments-land-dealsEthiopia: Thousands driven out in land grab.www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/01/18/Ethiopia-Thousands-driven-out-in-land-grab/UPI-60071326912191/African land grab could lead to future water conflicts. www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028144.100-african-land-grab-could-lead-to-future-water-conflicts.htmlAre foreign investors colonising Africa?stream.aljazeera.com/story/are-foreign-investors-colonising-africa-0021551Africa: Growing Africa's Land.allafrica.com/stories/201207030260.htmlWhat about our great country? Here are a couple of examples: Biofuels land grab in Kenya's Tana Delta fuels talk of warwww.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/02/biofuels-land-grab-kenya-deltaFor the person who has the time, there is a lengthy report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that attempts to carefully look at the pros and cons. Land grab or development opportunity? ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/ak241e/ak241e.pdf But please note that this report was issued in 2009, and land-grabbing has rapidly accelerated since then. If you don't have the time, then here's a short, recent article that quickly hits some of the main points: Foreign Investments in Agriculture - “Land Grabbing”www.entwicklungshilfe3.de/fileadmin/entwicklungshilfe/img/Land_grab_article.pdfIt even mentions our great country. Note the location of these land deals. Kenya has been plagued by droughts in recent years with devastating effects on its agriculture sector. Sadly instead of addressing this issue, Kenya has opted to give up its farmland to foreign investors planning to grow plants (for export) that are used to produce bio-fuel; plants such as sugar cane and jatropha, which require a lot of water to grow. In order to satisfy the watering needs of these plants, Kenya allegedly made available 10,000 hectares to the Canadian company Bedford Bio fuels, for a pilot project to grow Jatropha and 28,000 hectares to G4 Industries Ltd. from the UK. The land provided to both companies is adjacent to the Tana River and situated in the Tana Delta which is considered as an important habitat for birds in Africa. As a Consequence of these land concessions the environment of the delta has been damaged. Less and less animals are being seen, which once densely populated that habitat. Furthermore, the local population has been displaced and entire communities have been dismantled. It has also been reported that Kenya concluded an agreement with Qatar to exploit 40,000 hectares [also in the Tana River Delta].This short report on Kenya is also interesting: Land Grab in Kenya: Implications for Small By Pauline Makutsa
Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Small-holder Farmerswww.sfoap.net/fileadmin/user_upload/sfoap/KB/docs/Report%20of%20Land%20Grab%20in%20Kenya.pdfQuote: In 2003, Dominion Group of companies of Oklahoma USA leased 2,300 ha of land for 25 years71 in the Yala Swamp ... A number of families have been evicted from the additional area of farmland claimed by Dominion even though these families have been living on that land for generations. Some farmers even possess registration documents claiming ownership of the land. Dominion offered to compensate these farmers with as little as KES 45,000 per ha which some of the farmers declined. To deal with these stubborn farmers Dominion flooded their farms, by opening the sluices of the weir that they had constructed with the aim of directing the flow of the tributary that feeds the swamp, and destroying their crops. now we can start to appreciate the problem in Tana delta is beyond the Ormas and Pokomos doings. squeezed into a smaller and ever diminishing area their traditions of yonder whereby grazing fields were used in certain seasons no longer hold. add the population growth and a powder keg exists. what of politicians who cannot see tomorrow such that you hear a full minister squealing in parliament how an assistant minister is responsible for the mayhem! yet the minister is responsible for internal security and defense dockets which are both in the office of the president |
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 18:26:51 GMT 3
now we can start to appreciate the problem in Tana delta is beyond the Ormas and Pokomos doings. squeezed into a smaller and ever diminishing area their traditions of yonder whereby grazing fields were used in certain seasons no longer hold. add the population growth and a powder keg exists. what of politicians who cannot see tomorrow such that you hear a full minister squealing in parliament how an assistant minister is responsible for the mayhem! yet the minister is responsible for internal security and defense dockets which are both in the office of the president Quite so. There have been warning after warning about the consequences of these land deals, but nobody seems to care. By the way, this Wikipedia entry nicely summarizes the most of the main issues: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grabbingFor those who have the interest and the time for a lengthy read, I also recommend the World Bank Report on the subject: Rising Global Interest in Farmland: CAN IT YIELD SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE BENEFITS?siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/ESW_Sept7_final_final.pdfThe figures involved since 2008 are staggering, with Africa getting the sharp end of the stick. Quote: First, the demand for land has been enormous. Compared to an average annual expansion of global agricultural land of less than 4 million hectares before 2008, approximately 56 million hectares worth of large-scale farmland deals were announced even before the end of 2009. More than 70 percent of such demand has been in Africa; countries such as Ethiopia,Mozambique, and Sudan have transferred millions of hectares to investors in recent years.As might be expected of the World Bank, it primarily appears to want to look at this land-grab as a good thing, but the downsides cannot be escaped. In looking at large-scale land deals up to 2007-2007, the conclusion is that they have not befenefited the local populace. Knowing how deals are done in some of these countries, that is hardly surprising. Quote: In many countries where demand has recently increased, limited screening of proposals, project approvals without due diligence, rivalries among institutions with overlapping responsibilities, and an air of secrecy all create an environment conducive to weak governance. Official records on land acquisitions are often incomplete, and neglect of social and environmental norms is widespread. All this implies a danger of a “race to the bottom” to attract investors. Deficient processes for local consultation and unclear boundary descriptions create several problems: they reduce tenure security and investment incentives, increase the likelihood of conflict, and make it difficult for the public sector to collect land taxes and monitor whether investors comply with agreements they had entered into with local people.Another interesting bit from the report: For many countries improving the productivity of smallholder farmers will have a much larger impact on poverty reduction than promotion of large-scale land acquisition, and that if a country decides that attracting investors is in its best interest, ways that such investments benefit local populations must be high up on the agenda. The World Bank report has been heavily criticized. See for example www.grain.org/article/entries/4021-world-bank-report-on-land-grabbing-beyond-the-smoke-and-mirrors |
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 18:31:47 GMT 3
I am putting this in a different posting so that it is not missed among all the other stuff. There is a movement to stop the land-grab in Africa, and I urge all to go read what is on its website: www.stopafricalandgrab.com/Quote: A tragedy of epic proportions is unfolding across Africa. This tragedy, popularly referred to as the “Africa Land Grab” is turning the African continent into a slave plantation and we, Africans, slaves in our own land. Under the guise of foreign investment, African leaders give foreign countries and companies the most productive land and forcefully remove us, Africans, from our lands. With our ancestral lands taken away, we become refugees in our own land and foreign companies owners of the land.
We, the people of Africa welcome foreign investments, but grabbing the most productive lands in Africa to grow food that is exported to another country while we starve is not considered investment by us. Grabbing water or other critical natural resources of Africa and depriving us, the people whose land those resources reside the benefit of those resources is not a welcome investment. Forcing us off our ancestral land so it can be sold to hedge fund companies while we become refugees and slave-laborers in our own continent is unethical, genocidal and a human rights violation. We, the African people and people of goodwill will STOP the re-introduction of slavery and genocide under the guise of “foreign investment.” Be it known therefore, that the sale or lease of large tracts of land by Africans in or out of authority without the consent of the African people is considered illegal, null and void and will be vehemently resisted by all Africans. When leaders fail to lead or fail to lead responsibly, the people must step in and take the lead. |
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 9, 2012 20:55:13 GMT 3
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Post by OtishOtish on Sept 14, 2012 22:20:00 GMT 3
A commentary from the writer Akinyi Princess of K’Orinda-Yimbo: (If you don't have time to read what's at all the other links I have posted, at least take a look at this one.)AFRICA’S WILLED RECOLONISATION akinyi-princess.de/1230/Articles_.../Home/Africas_Willed_Colonisation.htmlQuote:
The 99- and 999-year lease – a remnant of colonialists – surely cannot fool anybody. This is equivalent to a full century and/or full millennium which translates into three and a half to thirty-four consecutive generations of Africans.
Africans are selling the one natural resource they can’t afford to sell – their land. Especially arable land. In Antananarivo, Madagascar, earlier in 2009, President Ravalomanana’s government was overthrown by angry urban poor who were already spending two thirds of their income to feed themselves
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President Ravalomanana was leasing 1.3m hectares (half the size of Belgium and half of Madagascar’s arable land) to South Korea’s Daewoo for 99 years to grow maize and palm oil and send all harvests during this period back home to feed South Koreans. Daewoo paid nothing: they PROMISED to improve the island’s infra structure. And of course they would provide “jobs for the citizens of Madagascar by farming it, which is good for Madagascar” (read cheap slave labour). As usual the public was kept in the dark. Until the news was leaked by London’s Financial Times. This is the first government in the world to be toppled by angry mobs and the military for “land-grabbing”. Kudos to the people.
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Mark Weston, Britain’s international development policy consultant does the colourful canvas thus: “Imagine if China, following a brief negotiation with a British government desperate for foreign cash after the collapse of the economy, bought up the whole of Wales, replaced most of its inhabitants with Chinese workers, turned the entire country into an enormous rice field and sent all the rice produced there for the next 99 years back to China… Imagine that neither the evicted Welch nor the rest of the British public knew what they were getting in return for this, having to content themselves with vague promises that the new landlords would upgrade a few ports and create jobs for the local people.
“Then, imagine that, after a few years – and bearing in mind that recession and the plummeting pound have already made it difficult for the UK to buy food from abroad – an oil-price spike or an environmental disaster in one of the world’s big grain-producing nations drives global food prices sharply upwards and beyond the reach of many Britons. While the Chinese next door in Wales continue sending rice back to China, the starving British look helplessly on, ruing the day their government sold off half their arable land. Some of them plot the violent recapture of the Welch valley.” |
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Post by abdulmote on Sept 14, 2012 23:09:33 GMT 3
I have never felt so sad.
For my dear mother land.
The damage has already been done.
For they have taken all our of our land.
Sometimes I see no way out.
Despair leaves me crying whilst I shout,
Tears are running dry.
Yet help I must try.
I have never felt so sad,
But the choices have been made,
That I should either fight for what is mine,
Or accept to die, for I have nowhere to dine.
I have never felt so sad,
For my dear mother land,
Indeed the damage has been done.
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