Acquisition Of Agricultural Land Research Articles

Foreign Acquisition of Agricultural Land and Food Security: A Cautionary Note on Public Policy

Proposed amendments to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 appear motivated by concern with food security and foreign ownership. Approval would be required for acquisitions by foreigners of agricultural land over five hectares, a register of agricultural land would be established and there would be a new explicit national interest test. This article explores the variegated social, political and economic opposition to foreign acquisition of agricultural land and finds it misplaced. Increased agricultural productivity to address the challenge of global food security requires that the sector emulates the success of global manufacturing within a network of alliances global supply chain. Productivity considerations should override populism as the main driver of policy for the regulation of Foreign Direct Investment.

On structured buyer-seller negotiation for agricultural land acquisition - simulation experiments with rule-based models and utility functions

The acquisition of land from landowning communities for the purpose of expanding industry has been a part of economic strategy in many developing countries in the past decade. The lack of a structured negotiation framework to ensure equity and transparency in the process of acquisition has been an important issue in many of these countries, particularly India. Among the core issues are the lack of a well defined process framework, authorized regulatory and statutory entities to participate and oversee the process, and transparent mechanisms for calculating and communicating offers and valuations between the buyer and the seller communities. There is a need to explore alternative negotiation frameworks and models for calculation and valuation of bids and asks which can ensure an adequate level of equity and transparency. The models must ensure that the compensation packages cover certain basic needs of the small and medium farmers for whom loss of land is also loss of livelihood. In this paper, we propose a framework for land acquisition negotiations in which mathematical models for the buyer generate price offers not only for land but also wage and other compensations. We also present utility-based models and a rule base for the seller to evaluate the offer, and mechanisms for the seller’s responses to be communicated via intermediaries to the buyer in cycles of negotiation. Using simulated data representative of the agricultural land scenario in India, we explore ways in which the models and the framework could be used to support diverse and realistic land acquisition situations. Software for the implementation of the mathematical models and rule engine for evaluation of the bid-ask process described in this paper have been developed by the authors. The software can be customized for specific applications.

New investment, old challenges. Land deals and the water constraint in African agriculture

Foreign investment in agricultural land acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa has been viewed primarily as driven by a set of linked ‘crises’: in financial capital markets, in security of energy and food supply, and in global environmental governance. This paper argues that a focus on the ‘buyers’ of land risks overlooking the dynamics that operate on the side of the land ‘sellers’. Accordingly, the first part of the paper argues that it is important to view the current ‘land grab’ as the latest stage in a longer historical process of competition for control of land and other natural resources by different ‘domestic’ economic and political actors within African countries. While such struggles are often characterised as the ‘state versus the peasantry’, with the state acting on behalf of ‘urban elites’, the paper argues that processes of accumulation and associated enclosure of natural resources need to be examined more critically in specific contexts if the role and impact of foreign capital investment are to be understood. The second part of the paper seeks to identify the ways in which questions of scale (in the sense of greater capital intensity) can be considered to be constraints to the development of African agriculture. Particularly, it considers the extent to which the production models most frequently mentioned in connection with foreign investment (large-scale mechanised farms and small-scale outgrower contract farming) respond to current productivity constraints. The paper argues that current debates about foreign investment in agricultural land underplay the importance of water resources needed to overcome production risks associated with irregular rainfall. Bringing the water dimension of land deals more clearly into focus is necessary if the scope for positive and negative impacts of new investment on existing land users is to be fully understood. The paper concludes by considering the implications of such challenges in the current context of foreign investment in agriculture in Africa.

Palaeozoological insights into management options for a threatened mammal: southern Africa’s Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)

AbstractAim Promoting population growth of genetically distinct subpopulations of Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) is crucial to the survival of the subspecies. Several important Cape mountain zebra reserves are dominated by fynbos vegetation, and population growth is limited by a lack of grassland habitat. A fossil ungulate sequence spanning the last c. 18,000 years is examined to understand the long‐term history of this conservation challenge.Location Boomplaas Cave (BPA), South Africa.Methods The fossil sequence from BPA is examined to reconstruct ungulate community dynamics in relation to climate and vegetation change over the last 18,000 years.Results Ungulates from 18,000 to 12,000 years ago suggest an expansion of open grasslands that supported a grazing ecosystem dominated by an extinct caprine antelope and equid remains attributed to E. zebra and E. quagga. At the onset of the Holocene, the grazing ungulate community disappears and small browsers and mixed feeders dominate the assemblage, indicating the loss of open grassland vegetation. Several open‐habitat grazers go extinct at this time, and Equus persists at much lower abundances. This shift can be explained by global climate change across the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.Main conclusions The fossil sequence supports contemporary observations indicating that access to open grassland is crucial to maintaining large Cape mountain zebra subpopulations. Although fynbos is abundant throughout the historic range of the Cape mountain zebra, fossil evidence suggests that such vegetation is unlikely to support dense populations. It has been suggested that the acquisition of agricultural lands that were historically converted to open grasslands for livestock could promote Cape mountain zebra population growth. Results presented here support this management option, as the open grasslands in these converted landscapes likely approximate the vegetation structure during latest Pleistocene, when grasslands were widespread and grazing ungulates abundant.

Acquisition of Agricultural Land in Selected European Union Countries

Acquisition of Agricultural Land in Selected European Union Countries

Democratic Centralism, Party Hegemony, and Decentralisation in West Bengal

This paper raises two questions. (1) How does one explain the massive mandate given to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front on industrialisation in the West Bengal assembly elections of 2006 receiving a setback from the same electorate in panchayat elections of 2008, just two years later? (2) Did the primary contradiction lie between the practice of rigid democratic centralism of the Community Party of India (Marxist) and the logic of democratic devolution of power of the panchayati raj institutions, or between agriculture and industry in a predominantly small peasant economy? It is argued that the primary contradiction lay in the pervasive political oppression of the hegemon, in the manner in which land was acquired rather than in the acquisition of agricultural lands per se.

Growing city, shrinking hinterland: land acquisition, transition and conflict in peri-urban Gurgaon, India

This paper describes the implications of the land acquisition process in a village in the Gurgaon district of Haryana state in northwestern India. Gurgaon city, the district capital, is emerging as a major industrial hub, its growth made possible by the large-scale acquisition of agricultural lands by the government. The expansion of the city has altered patterns of rural natural resource use, created social, cultural and economic changes, and bred resentment among many peri-urban residents against urban authorities. The current top-down policies for land acquisition need to be revisited and replaced by more participative processes in which landowners and peri-urban residents themselves are involved. The speedy disbursement of reimbursements for lands acquired, and the spread of livelihood generation activities, can make processes of urbanization more inclusive and participatory. Improving transportation and connectivity to the city will be essential for sustaining new peri-urban livelihoods.

Restoring natural habitats: economic impacts of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Missouri USA

Economic benefits and costs of the proposed 60,000-acre Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge are evaluated for three economic impact assessment scenarios, two cropland acreage amounts (maximum or minimum) and three acreage allocation options. Results show that the major cost of the Refuge is the economic losses associated with reduced crop production. Expected agricultural economic losses and land acquisition cost for the Refuge can be minimized by targeting land acquisitions to agricultural land that is already enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program and not protected by levees. If land is acquired in levee-protected areas, land acquisitions should be targeted to areas enrolled in the Wetland Reserve Program or Emergency Wetland Reserve Program.

Agricultural Land Acquisition in Suburban Areas of the Tokyo Metropolis

In suburban areas of big cities, agricultural land acquisition is often caused by farmers who converted their agricultural land into urban uses as substitutional agricultural land. And agricultural land in a municipality is often acquired by non-resident farmers.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between urbanization and some features of agricultural land acquisition and to identify the regional pattern of the acquisition. The indices related to urbanization and acquisition are used for the analysis. The survey area is Saitama Prefecture, a suburban area of the Tokyo Metropolis.The structure of this research are as follows: Firstly, the ninety-two municipalities of Saitama Prefecture are classified zonally by time-distance to the Tokyo CBD. Then the zonal features of indices through the classification are discussed. Secondly, by using principal component analysis, and cluster analysis, ninety-two municipalities are classified.The analysis shows the following results:1) The degree of urbanization corresponds to the time-distance to the Tokyo CBD. The relation between them can be summarized in three types of regions: within 60 minutes of the Tokyo CBD; between 60 and 140 minutes; and more than 140 minutes.2) By principal component analysis, the first principal component is given a meaning as the activity of agricultural land acquistion and the second principal component as the degree of urbanization. The relation between the distribution of the first principal component scores and that of the second ones is noteworthy. The municipalities which have higher scores of the second principal component (the degree of urbanization) are concentrated on the outer boundary of the Tokyo Metropolis. The municipalities which have higher scores of the first principal component (the activity of agricultural land acquisition) are distributed around or overlapping the areas of higher scores of the second principal component.3) Four regions are identified by cluster analysis. These are named Neighborhood areas Suburban areas and Outer fringe areas (both plane and mountainious types). These regions are regarded to be the same as the three types of regions mentioned in 1).The features of agricultural land acquisition are identified as a pattern resembling concentric circles. This means that the agricultural land acquisition around a big city is strongly affected by urbanization process. There is a lot of conversion of agricultural land into urban uses in urbanizing areas. The demands for substitutional agricultural land are also created there. Substitutional agricultural land is acquired around the site of urban development usually in suburban areas. The results obtained by principal component analysis fit in with the realities of agricultural land acquisition.

The place of the agricultural tenancy in modern farming in England and Wales

The demise of the agricultural tenancy as the preponderant form of land tenure in England and Wales, expressed either in number of tenancies or area of farmland subject to tenancy, has become a matter of growing comment and concern. The most rigorous study of this phenomenon was undertaken by the Committee of Inquiry into the Acquisition and Occupancy of Agricultural Land, appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1977 under the chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. Lord Northfield. However, to some extent, this Committee, and certainly the majority of subsequent commentators, have failed to take account of the behavioural determinants of the agricultural tenancy. This paper considers some of the behavioural characteristics of the agricultural tenancy which contributed to its successful establishment yet which have failed to prevent its dominance from being eroded under the pressure of modern social and economic conditions.

THE NORTHFIELD REPORT: STRUCTURAL POLICY AND AGRICULTURAL EFFICIENCY

A brief review of the Northfield Report on the Acquisition and Occupancy of Agricultural Land emphasises its general acceptance of the existing situation. An opportunity has been missed to develop more far reaching conclusions in respect of a policy area where scope for national initiative within the EEC remains. Although the Committee took an efficient agriculture as a principal objective its definition is not discussed and the only factual evidence quoted is the analysis by Britton and Hill based on the Farm Management Survey. The appropriateness of this is questioned and some alternatives are suggested. The Britton/Hill analysis does not give particular support for the Committee's advocacy of a family‐based farm structure. The Committee sees value in a let sector but expects its decline to continue. Nationalisation of agricultural land as the most direct route back to tenancy is rejected. Yet there is a need for the continuity of ownership to avoid leakages through capital taxes and family transfers. Nationalisation may be infeasible and in its absence, an alternative would be to positively discourage continuing owner occupation and over time to develop an effective land tax to recover support costs.

Land, Food and Energy: A British and a World Focus

The Political QuarterlyVolume 51, Issue 3 p. 344-349 Land, Food and Energy: A British and a World Focus Richard Baker, Richard Baker Sheffield PolytechnicSearch for more papers by this author Richard Baker, Richard Baker Sheffield PolytechnicSearch for more papers by this author First published: July 1980 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1980.tb02515.x Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Acquisition and Occupancy of Agricultural Land, Chairman: Lord Northfield (Cmnd. 7599, July 1979, HMSO); Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Chairman: Sir Hans Kornberg. Seventh Report: Agriculture and Pollution (Cmnd. 7644, September 1979, HMSO); World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development July 1979 Report (“WCARRD”) (FAO, Rome, 1979); Agriculture: Toward 2000 (FAO, Rome, 1979). (To be re-issued in revised form in 1981.) Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume51, Issue3July 1980Pages 344-349 RelatedInformation

Welsh Contributions to Exploration in Patagonia

IN 1965 the Welsh colony of Patagonia celebrated one hundred years of uninterrupted occupation of Patagonian territory. Various authors have paid token tribute to the importance of the colony in Latin American history (Bowen, 1966; Williams, G., n.d.; Williams, R. B., 1962). It was the first permanent settlement to be established south of the Rio Negro, and laid the foundation for subsequent colonization projects in Patagonia. However, of all the attempts to explore what Lucas Bridges labelled, 'The uttermost part of the world', (Bridges, 1948) it is doubt? ful that any have received as little credit as those undertaken by members of this pioneering Welsh colony. Invariably their explorations were either entirely unpublicized, or the credit for the exploits was given to non-Welsh members of the various expeditions. It is hoped that this paper will alter some of these misconceptions while, at the same time, placing the role of Welsh exploration of Patagonia in its true perspective. Motives of the explorations.?It is apparent that many different motivations were involved in the Welsh exploration of their adopted home. During the years when such journeys were undertaken, the emphasis on different motivations varied considerably, being controlled by such factors as the Welsh image of the potential form of the Colony, the degree of external contact, and the political aspirations of the Argentine Government. The fact that some of the journeys were promoted by the community interests and others by individual incentive makes the problem of generalization about motivation extremely difficult. It must be remembered that the Welsh had emigrated to Chubut in the hope of pursuing nationalistic ideals that were denied them in their homeland. This was the central theme of those who organized the proposed mass relocation of Welsh culture. On the other hand, the majority of the Welsh peasants and industrial workers who joined the movement did so to further the economic interests of themselves and their families. Their main interest was in the acquisition of agricultural land. It is fairly obvious that the motivations for exploration were quite different for each of these two groups. Yet, it is also clear that a certain interaction was inevitable. Only through cooperation could the aspirations of all community members be realized. From the outset, the intention of the Welsh Emigration Society in Liverpool was to populate as much as possible of Patagonian territory with Welsh colonists (Hughes, 1862, p. 8, 18-19). They were thinking in terms of the mass migration to North America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and saw no reason why similar numbers of Welsh immigrants could not be enticed into joining the Pata? gonian colony. To them it seemed perfectly logical that such a mass relocation of population would acquire possession of the populated area and thereby gain independence. Even when it became apparent that the Argentine Government would strongly resist any such intrusion of her territory, the Society rationalized the situa? tion by adopting a compromising attitude which maintained that the immigration of 20,000 settlers would insure the achievement of provincial status which would in turn guarantee political autonomy (Jones, 1885, Pl6)The settlement of the