Includes history of the project;the scale down;the role of European DFIs (Development Finance Institutions);recommendations. The issues of concern and damages often expressed by a critical mass of the Addax project communities have been confirmed. The communities were taken by surprise when the project was first scaled down and then sold twice. The DFIs have failed to provide timely information on obvious risks of failure and to act accordingly. All this created harm that could have been avoided. In the end;communities did not have access to justice.

A report by Global Agriculture examines the agricultural impact of multinational land deals (aka ‘land grabbing’) which are found to be directly harmful to local food security and livelihoods. It describes the phenomena as when: “These international investors;as well as the public;semi-public or private sellers;often operate in legal grey areas and in a no man’s land between traditional land rights and modern forms of property.

Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives;Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency.

Proponents of large-scale agriculture have put forward a multitude of reasons to support the advancement of this approach to farming. Large-scale agriculture is seen as the only way to “modernise” and “develop” the land;to close the yield gap;and to ensure food availability. Furthermore;socio-economic outcomes are assumed to be higher under the management of large-scale farming operations than on small-scale farms. This study reviewed scientific literature on the microeconomic and social effects of large-scale land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The land crises and large-scale land grabs affecting many African countries today stem from historical and colonial mistakes whose problems remain. The systems;policies and laws that are being pushed to “register” and “formalise” land ownership do not put into consideration the cultural and historical aspects that govern land in many countries on the continent. Professor Sam Lwanga Lunyiigo asks pertinent questions about this push and about implications of customary land registration in Uganda.

The reality that significant improvements in security of tenure at scale in rural Africa are still needed nearly a decade after the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land;Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) suggests a need to explore its limitations and consider what it would take to realize its objectives. The article documents significant impacts of the VGGT reform processes and highlights illustrative or “one-off” results.

Large-scale land acquisition projects by foreign investors, also known as “land grabbing,” raise difficult questions about the processes of valuing land in Sub-Saharan Africa that the current literature does not sufficiently explore. Land acquisitions can help developing countries like Tanzania achieve their economic and development goals. Nonetheless, it can also threaten local livelihoods and well-being due to displacement, lack of access to natural capital, and conflicts between land users.