The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on January 21 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three companies geared towards the production of a minimum of 400 tonnes of additional vegetables per year to supply the domestic market and ship abroad.

The signatory companies of the MoU, entitled “Agriculture 4.0 and Greenhouse Cooperation: Transforming Farmers to Agropreneurs”, were listed in a post on agriculture minister Veng Sakhon’s Facebook page as Agri-Sambathkhmer Co Ltd, PLMP Venture Capital Co Ltd and ISBP Group-Sun Business Investment Globe Co Ltd.

Location: Livestream on the GFFA website (https://www.gffa-berlin.de/en/). If you want to participate actively in the Global Forum on Food & Agriculture and receive information about all events, please register here: https://2022.gffa-berlin.de/#signup.html?

Languages: German, English, French

Organised by: FAO, GIZ, International Land Coalition (ILC) and Welthungerhilfe

15 years ago, when the Mozambican government signed the contract with VALE, almost everybody in Mozambique believed that coal would develop the country. This investigation exposes part of the destruction that VALE Moçambique is preparing to leave behind now that it has announced an agreement to sell its projects to Vulcan Minerals for US $270 million.

Lawyers in the Congo provide a rare look at the workers extracting a metal critical to the battery business

China’s cash-strapped developers have become reluctant to acquire land even as some local governments relax bidding rules, adding to signs of their liquidity crunch and threatening to deepen the nation’s economic slowdown. 

Land plots auctioned in the fourth quarter through Dec. 20 only fetched an average 3% premium over their starting prices, according to data compiled by China Real Estate Information Corp. That’s down from a 17% premium in the second quarter and 8% in the third, said the research agency, which tracks auctions across 300 Chinese cities.

After adapting to challenges of COVID-19, 2021 turned into a very busy and exciting year for the global WOLTS team.

How much would you spend to buy virtual land in the metaverse, a virtual world that runs in parallel with real life? In recent days, the land rush in the metaverse has been making headlines with a $4.3 million record high purchase of a plot of land in Sandbox, a blockchain-based decentralized metaverse developed by a US firm - the equivalent to the price of a luxury villa in Beijing's inner suburbs. 

Almost four years’ of political manoeuvring to amend the Constitution to expressly provide compensationless expropriation ended with a whimper. But Tuesday’s debate brought out lowbrow political slander, with references to sell-outs, cowards, handlers and counter-revolutionaries across the floor of the House.

The National Assembly has failed to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill to allow for expropriation of land without compensation.

On Tuesday, the ANC failed to convince parties and muster the two-thirds majority vote it needed to push the bill through.

Only 204 MPs voted in favour of the bill, while 145 voted against it.

During the debate, ad hoc committee chairperson Dr Mathole Motshekga said the amendment bill sought to address a crime against the African majority.

Bereng Mpaki writing in the Lesotho Times provides background on the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill which seeks to legalise artisanal and  small scale mining. This had previously been outlawed by the Mines and Minerals Act, 2005.

According to the the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Natural Resources, Tourism and Land Cluster Portfolio Committee  the Bill sought to alleviate poverty by empowering locals to venture into mining.

Parliament is scheduled to consider early next month the issue of the report that will recommend the amendment of the Constitution to allow for expropriation of land without compensation.

The Section 25 Committee adopted its report for tabling to the National Assembly in September.

The debate on the report was delayed when Parliament went into an early constituency period to allow parties to campaign for the local government elections.