Wednesday, November 2, 2011

is it really about land grabbing?

Aljazeera once again is taking up the topic of land grabbing. I guess my precedent posts cover most of the relevant arguments.
It is the first debate I come across, that is well differentiated and discusses the role of African politics. Countries like Ethiopia suddenly become quite powerful but are not used to make use of this power to come up with smarter contracts with foreign investors.
This is also the first time I hear the "water grabs", which is directly linked with land grab. Indeed, for commercial farming not only fertile soils are needed but also water to grow during the dry season. Many  "land grabbing" contracts also secure water rights to the investor. "Water grabs" is I guess even a more complex topic than land grabbing, as water has downstream impact : a topic worth digging into further...

Have a look at the whole debate :


or http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/are-foreign-investors-colonising-africa-0021551

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