The global land rush: implications for agricultural communities.

Abstract

Abstract Over the past decade, a host of interrelated and mutually reinforcing processes have stimulated a renewed interest in farmland in the global South. This has resulted in a growing trend in which long-term rights over customary land and natural resources are being acquired by corporations, investment funds and government agencies alike, either as an investment vehicle, risk hedging mechanism or economic asset. While the data on large-scale land acquisitions are notoriously slippery and hard to acquire (Edelman 2013), estimates place the scope of land acquisitions initiated since 2000 at between 38 million and 55.7 million ha (Land Matrix online database (http://www.landmatrix.org/en/ [accessed 19 October 2015])). Some have viewed these trends as an opportunity to secure much-needed investment in rural areas, in the anticipation of the benefits that will flow from it: employment, technological innovation, smallholder market integration and other positive social and economic spillovers. It has also been met with a critical response from other circles due to the risks posed to rural livelihoods, food and tenure security, the environment and self-determination. This paper reviews what is known about the implications of large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural communities in the global South, with a focus on Africa and on the (relatively limited) empirical work that has been done to shed light on a very polarized debate. Following a brief overview of the trends and drivers of the land rush, I review the evidence around some of the key themes defining this debate. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of implications for further research.