A new report from Oxfam has found that over 227 million hectares of land in developing countries—an area the size of Western Europe—has been leased or sold to foreign investors in the last ten years. Land deals have grown following the food crisis of 2008, and the trend is expected to increase. The report examines land grabs in Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, South Sudan, and Indonesia and calls the large-scale land acquisitions “development in reverse.” Investors disguise land grabs as responsible investment that supposedly provides food for hungry people.
By Bertram Zagema
September 22, 2011
To view the report, click here.
