Political ecology of large-scale land acquisitions and land grabs for industrial crops

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a surge in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for industrial crop production in several developing countries of Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. A very diverse set of stakeholders has been involved in these LSLAs, often through different roles and with very different vested interests. However, many of the LSLAs for industrial crop production have been linked to land grabbing and very diverse environmental, economic, and social impacts at different levels. This chapter synthesises the current knowledge about the dominant drivers, actors, and impacts of industrial crop LSLAs and land grabbing in the global South. Apart from a general overview, it focusses on insights gained through the recent expansion of jatropha in Sub-Saharan Africa, rubber in Southeast Asia, and oil palm in Latin America. Overall industrial crop LSLAs and related land grabs have become major agents of ecological, agrarian, socioeconomic, and institutional transformations across the global South. We argue that the conceptual tools of political ecology, namely the attention to multi-scalar dynamics, social differentiation, marginalisation, and discursive power, offer an ideal lens to explore the modalities and outcomes of LSLAs and land grabbing in the context of industrial crop expansion.