Deciding whether or not to allow an investor to use community lands and natural resources is one of the most important decisions a community can make.

When negotiations are conducted fairly and inclusively, investments may result in the creation of jobs, provision of much-needed infrastructure such as schools, roads and clinics, and rental payments that have the potential to support the community’s long-term prosperity and wellbeing.

One of the world's major buyers of farmland is under fire for their involvement in land conflicts, environmental destruction and risky investments. A new report by GRAIN and Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humano presents, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of Harvard University's controversial investments in global farmland.

The report finds that:

This report reviews the idea of inclusiveness in agricultural investments and analyses what ‘inclusiveness’ means to different value chain actors.

Oil palm investments are returning from Southeast Asia to West Africa, where the crop originated. As this interest intensifies, land conflicts are likely to become more prevalent. Our research shows that such disputes can treble the cost of cultivation and cause year-long delays. Despite this, many companies do not mitigate tenure risk because they lack the data and tools necessary to understand their risk exposure and take action.

Investors are buying up vast tracks of land across the developing world in a modern day ‘land rush’. New analysis by Oxfam explores where land is changing hands and why. It finds that investors appear to be targeting countries with weak governance in order to secure land quickly and cheaply – putting the homes and livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities at risk. Oxfam’s GROW campaign is calling on the World Bank to lead the fight against land grabs.

After years of international isolation, Myanmar is liberalizing its economy and seeking to attract foreign investment. But while foreign investment can play an important role in developing the country’s agriculture sector, in the current environment of limited transparency and accountability, an increase in agribusiness investments poses serious risks to the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and others dependent on land.

China's presence in Africa has gained growing attention at an international level in the last two

decades, especially since the 2007 food crisis, however China's presence in Africa is far from new.

China can not been perceived as a new international actor, still its reemergence as a world's leading

economic power needs to be reconsidered. China's presence in Africa has been generating a

growing misunderstanding at a different level that Debora Brautigam clearly describes in her paper

China's presence in Africa has gained growing attention at an international level in the last two

decades, especially since the 2007 food crisis, however China's presence in Africa is far from new.

China can not been perceived as a new international actor, still its reemergence as a world's leading

economic power needs to be reconsidered. China's presence in Africa has been generating a

growing misunderstanding at a different level that Debora Brautigam clearly describes in her paper

Fish farming (aquaculture) is important to Myanmar’s food security and is developing and transforming quickly. This brief presents findings from a new field survey of the farmed fish value chain that is more detailed and broader than any previous study conducted in Myanmar. Many of our findings are at odds with what we perceive as conventional wisdom about fish farming in Myanmar. The findings have important policy implications to unlock the sector’s full growth potential and food security contributions.

p.219-228

La adquisición masiva de tierras por parte de empresas extranjeras en países africanos, asiáticos y latinoamericanos refleja una nueva fase del capitalismo global (Sassen, 2013). Colombia no ha escapado a esta lógica mundial del capitalismo, pues en la última década la influencia de las empresas extranjeras en el mercado de tierras ha sido notoria. En esa lógica, este artículo compara, desde un enfoque de Derechos Humanos, las prácticas de adquisición de tierras de tres compañías extranjeras que han explotado carbón a cielo abierto en La Guajira y Cesar.