Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – A new “scramble for Africa” is underway, no longer in the colonial style of troops and colonies, but with financial investors interested in acquiring the best lands for producing food products to export outside the continent.
It is a phenomenon with both positive and negative aspects, says a report from the International Institute for Environment and Development done at the request of FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The study was done on the following countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
According to the report, the acquisition of African lands by foreign investors could create opportunities, in the form of jobs, infrastructure, increase in agricultural production, etc. However, it could also “cause great harm if local people are excluded from decisions about allocating land and if their land rights are not protected.”
Various countries with substantial financial resources (especially in Asia), have created projects for using African lands to produce food products to meet the needs of their own population. In addition to the agreements between governments, there are also funds of sovereign investments (state funds that invest the profits from oil revenue) from several Arab nations and some multinationals that invest in African agriculture.
The arrival of foreign investments has already taken its toll on the world of politics in several African nations. One of the causes of the current political crisis in Madagascar, for example, is the strong resentment felt by the local people for the negotiation carried out by former President Marc Ravalomanana, in which he ceded 1.3 million hectares, half of the nation's arable land, to a Korean firm. In spite of the announcement of the creation of 70,000 jobs and a payment of $6 billion to the country, the agreement has been met with strong opposition among the people. The then-leader of the opposition, Rajoelina (current President of the Transitional Authority) encouraged the popular protest arisen from the accord, eventually forcing Ravalomanana to resign. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 26/5/2009)
