Large-scale Agricultural Investments Research Articles

Unpacking the complex relationships between agricultural investments and biodiversity in Ghana

The expansion of large-scale agricultural investments (LSAI) in Ghana has substantial implications for biodiversity and rural community well-being. This study explores the complex relationships between LSAI and biodiversity, focusing on species richness, evenness, Enhanced Vegetation Index, and Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index to assess ecosystem health. Using a mixed-methods approach, we combine panel datasets, remote sensing, and qualitative data to evaluate both ecological and social impacts of LSAI. While LSAI has potential economic benefits, it also poses risks to biodiversity by reducing species diversity and altering ecosystem services essential for rural communities' livelihoods. Our findings reveal that while LSAI increase vegetation cover and species evenness, they frequently lead to the loss of access to critical resources such as fuelwood, medicinal plants, and wild foods, impacting community resilience and social cohesion. These findings underscore the importance of balancing agricultural investments with policies that preserve biodiversity and maintain social equity, ensuring that long-term societal impacts of LSAI do not compromise ecosystem or local livelihoods. It calls for robust monitoring systems, and the inclusion of local communities in decision-making to ensure sustainable development. The study offers critical insights for policymakers and conservationists aiming to harmonize economic development with environmental conservation in Ghana and beyond.

Large-scale agricultural investments, employment opportunities and communal conflict

Large-scale agricultural investments, employment opportunities and communal conflict

Defining “success” in large-scale agricultural investment: a typology based on different stakeholder perspectives

In 2007/2008, a triple crisis of food, fuel and finance sparked a global rush for agricultural land; tens of millions of hectares were acquired, primarily by foreign investors, within countries in the Global South. Amidst those transactions, intergovernmental organizations, national governments, investors, and community members envisioned what “success” of such investments entails. Although not explicitly defined, each stakeholder had different conceptualizations and measures of it, based upon the descriptions used and desired outcomes sought. Despite a large amount of literature analyzing the global rush for land, as far as we are aware no one has analyzed the diverse viewpoints about what success entails. This paper compares conceptualizations among four key stakeholder groups, based on ideal types from dominant narratives, and develops a typology of ideal stakeholder framing of success to allow comparisons of uses and thereby provide a foundation for researchers who are assessing the global land rush. This paper provides clarity about widely used, but inconsistently defined, framing providing an important foundation for clarity of meaning and comparative differences between stakeholders. The typology advances the discourse on the land rush by providing nuance to this widely used framing and makes explicit its diverse meanings.

Effects of Large-Scale Agricultural Land Investment on Local Communities Livelihoods: Evidence from Bambasi Woreda, Western Ethiopia

Most of the African countries including Ethiopia are often known by problem of large scale agricultural land investment effects on the local community where land is being transferred to investment. Even though several efforts made so far to solve the overall effects of large scale agricultural land investment situation, the challenge is still widespread problem in Ethiopia. Hence the study project's purpose was to find out how large agricultural investments in Bambasi Woreda, Western Ethiopia impact the livelihoods of the surrounding populations and examine the local communities' participation in the large scale agricultural investment. In order to attain these objectives, data were collected from 330 randomly selected households in four purposively selected kebeles of the district for both control groups and treatment groups. The sample size was chosen using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. Both qualitative and quantitative data gathering techniques and instruments were employed in the study. Besides, the instruments utilized to collect the data were observations, focus groups, interviews, household surveys, and document reviews. Data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and econometric methods. The study shows that out of the total sampled respondents 30 of the treatment group and 13 percent of control group reveal that the project provided opportunity in terms of employment opportunity, technology transfer, utilization of agricultural inputs, changing the working culture of the community and productivity. The chie square value shows there is statistical significance among treated and control group on opportunity investment provided for the household and community. A binary logit regression model was used to describe how large-scale agriculture land investment affected the local community's standard of living. The findings indicated that only six variables were found to be significant out of the characteristics that were expected to influence local community employment in large-scale agricultural land investment projects. These includes household's educational accomplishment, size of HH, occupation of HH, Loss of useful land due to investment Project and technology transfer significantly and positively affected the employment opportunity in large scale agricultural investment projects, whereas the distance of a household's home from an investment project has a negative impact. Large-scale agricultural investments have a detrimental influence on household wealth accumulation and income, according to the estimation results of the average treatment effects on the treated. The management and implementation of land transfer for large-scale agricultural investment projects is inadequate, lack of openness, absence of community consultation, natural forest degradation, socio-economic and ecological effects must be carefully considered before transferring the land for large-scale agricultural investment.

Land grabbing, CSR, and the (de)mobilization of resistance

AbstractAs large-scale agricultural investment has been rising, scholars have much investigated the factors that shape contestations against land grabbing. This literature, however, has hardly focused on the role of investing agricultural companies and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices so far. Vice versa, there is extensive research on the CSR-contention nexus for mining and other sectors, albeit with contested findings. To contribute to these debates, I apply the opportunities and threats framework from social movement studies to examine how CSR affects local and transnational contention. This is studied in the comparison of two major European agricultural companies that operate in Cameroon (and beyond). The analysis shows a demobilizing effect of timely and substantial CSR practices.

Large-scale agricultural investments and local food security – Evidence from a mixed-method case study in Benin

AbstractLarge-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) and their impacts on local communities in host countries have been controversially discussed in recent years. As scholars increasingly call for more structured and comprehensive analyses, we develop a mixed-method approach using an expanded version of the “Right to Food” (RtF) framework to systematically investigate the local food security impacts of a recently established tomato-producing LSAI in Central Benin, West Africa. We find that the LSAI keeps natural resources as accessible as possible for the local community and provides employment opportunities, leading to higher dietary diversity of employees and multiplier effects in the local economy. At the same time, we find inequalities regarding the compensation of former land users as well as high job insecurity for temporary laborers who face high transportation costs to reach the LSAI. We argue that fair and inclusive compensation, improved access to markets and machinery, access to natural resources for often overlooked groups (pastoralists, hunters, fishermen) and social infrastructure are crucial factors in promoting positive outcomes of LSAIs on communities and that strong local institutions play a key role for achieving this. We conclude that the specific characteristics of our case (relatively small size, labor-intensive crop, focus on regional markets) provide favorable conditions for positive impacts on local food security. We encourage further, structured mixed-method studies, ideally including longitudinal and comparative research designs, to investigate the multidimensional effects related to the establishment of LSAIs. The extended RtF framework can thereby serve as a structural lens to systematically analyze the findings.

Stakes and Challenges of Sino-Cameroon Agriculture Cooperation 2008 -2023

Sino-Cameroon Agriculture cooperation has been the engine of Agricultural development especially in the rural communities in Cameroon where china seek for vast tracts of land for agricultural investments. The recent increase in food prices and the high demand for agricultural products in Cameroon and its neighbouring countries have created a scenario for China to invest in agriculture in Cameroon in order to meet the demand in the national and international scene. This opens a lacuna for Chinese companies to sign concessions with the Cameroon government to acquire vast hectares of land for large scale agricultural investments. Chinese companies in Cameroon have been involved in the cultivation of Rice, Maize, Cassava and many other products in order to meet the national and international demands. These companies have acquired vacant and unproductive land in Cameroon for foreign direct investments especially in the locality of Nanga Eboko and santchou.This paper seeks to examine the contributions of the Sino- Cameroon agriculture in the development of Cameroon. A qualitative research protocol was explore to understand the paradigms of the Sino- Cameroon agriculture in Cameroon in strengthening the Sino – Cameroon Cooperation and to meet the high demand of agricultural products. The results portrays that the Sino-Cameroon agriculture cooperation has contributed a great deal to solve the problem of food insecurity in Cameroon. Mechanised agriculture has also been promoted in Cameroon through these ventures which have greatly contributed in the high production of agricultural products to solve the national and international concerns. However large scale land concessions for agricultural investments have affected the rural population that depends of land for their livelihood. This paper therefore makes prospects on revisiting the long term land concessions for agricultural investments and implementing diverse techniques in order to ensure a sustainable and win- win cooperation.

Implications of large-scale agricultural investment for adaptation to climate change by smallholders in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Implications of large-scale agricultural investment for adaptation to climate change by smallholders in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Large-scale agricultural land investments and food security in Nigeria

The study examines how large-scale agricultural land investments (LIs) affect household food security in Nigeria. It is one of the few studies in Nigeria that offers new empirical insights into household food security. Precisely, it unravels how LIs affect the livelihood outcomes of households in communities where LIs operate compared to households in communities without such LIs. This study engages the mixed methods of analysis involving quantitative and qualitative techniques. The quantitative data is drawn from the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) utilising the Logistic regression technique. The qualitative aspect of this study involved fieldwork conducted in two distinct Nigerian states: Kwara State, situated in the North-Central region, and Ogun State, located in the South-West region. The qualitative findings further enrich the quantitative findings. It also helped to investigate the nature of jobs households engaged in and also the employment density of the investors’ farms which could not be done using the national representative data (LSMS). The results indicate that households in communities without land investments have 0.2% higher likelihood of being more food secure than households in communities with land investments and it is significant at 5%. The qualitative analysis reveals several key insights, including the observation that female headed households in communities with LIs are less likely to be food secure, receive less wages, and spend more time in communities with LIs. Government should put in place policies (for example, compensation policies) that will ensure that land deals are properly monitored and structured to benefit and protect the host communities. If the government fails to properly regulate land deals, rural people will always suffer. Also, they should monitor and control the activities, and the type of crops grown in investment farms so that land investments can bring about the desired benefits such as improvement in household livelihood and enhance food security in the communities where they exist.

The technical efficiency of large-scale agricultural investment in Northwest Ethiopia: A stochastic frontier approach

This study endeavoured to measure the technical efficiency of large-scale agricultural investment in Northwest Ethiopia. Besides, it strives to fathom the socioeconomic attributes and farm management techniques that influence technical inefficiency. This study uses the stochastic frontier approach to estimate the technical efficiency based on the cross-section data of 200 investors selected through a multiple-stage random sampling technique. The study established that better utilization of capital, labour, land, and seed inputs was reflected positively (albeit proportionally less) in grain output; however, the influence of agrochemical inputs was negative. The study highlighted the positive role of gender and level of education in improving technical efficiency, whereas on the other hand, age, occupation, district, and subsidies contributed to technical inefficiency. The study found that the overall mean technical efficiency for the study area was 71.7%, meaning that producers produce grain at a loss of around 28.3% due to technical inefficiency. As a result, it might be said that producers use their technology and resources somewhat inefficiently. The outcome of the study calls for more education for adults, and female producers should be encouraged and given the opportunity to manage the large-scale grain farming segment. In addition, the government is compelled to provide strategies about proper input appliances and set up a pilot research institution in the study area.

The Impact of Large-scale Agricultural Investments in Low-income Economies

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in large-scale agricultural land acquisitions in developing countries. The accompanying socio-economic implications have been areas of debate among politicians, policymakers and development agents. This paper argues that the traditional way of simulating the impacts of these investments in developing countries is misleading as the approach implies that the new investments are identical to the semi-subsistence way of farming that dominates agricultural practices in the host countries. In this study, we incorporate the peculiarity of large-scale agro-investments into an existing database for economy-wide models, i.e., social accounting matrix (SAM), and capture welfare and distributional outcomes properly. SAM-based multiplier models applied to Ethiopian data justify the need to account for the peculiarity of the investments in terms of production technology and their geographic distribution.

Responsible governance of land tenure in the context of agricultural investment from theory to Practice: Lessons from Ethiopia

Following the 2007 and 2008 global food crisis, emphasis has been placed on large-scale acquisition and transfer of land for agricultural investment to foreign and domestic investors from the global south as a strategy to address food shortages. Worldwide promotion for large scale agricultural investment has again resulted in land grabbing in the global south with potential threats to the land rights and livelihoods of smallholder farmers or local communities. This situation has opened a room for discussion on how to improve governance or administration of agricultural investment land so that the land rights and livelihoods of smallholder farmers or local communities and other vulnerable groups are protected. As a result, the idea of responsible governance of land gained significant attention and various guidelines and frameworks have also developed and endorsed to promote responsible governance of agricultural investment land at global level. As a result, the purpose of this study is to analyze and understand the attention paid to promote responsible governance of land in the context of agricultural investment in Ethiopia. This study has employed a mixed research approach by using both quantitative and qualitative data collected from three case study regional states in Ethiopia. It primarily discusses the practice of land acquisition and transfer for agricultural investment purposes from the perspective of responsible governance of land. The findings of this study show that agricultural investment practices in Ethiopia significantly deviate from the principles of responsible governance of land. The conventional state controlled land acquisition and transfer of agricultural investment lands is more prevalent practice, with little emphasis to local community interests and environmental demands. Finally, this study has advised introduce and promote responsible governance of land as a way out to safeguard local communities’ interests and environmental concerns in the context of agricultural investment in Ethiopia.

Large-scale agricultural investment and female employment in African communities: Quantitative and qualitative insights from Nigeria

This study examines how large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) affect employment outcomes of female-headed households in Nigeria. It focuses on wage income and labour allocations of households in communities where LSAIs occurred in comparison with households in communities where LSAIs did not occur. It engages a mixed method approach, which involves the quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data was sourced from the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), which was analysed using Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The qualitative analysis entails in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). The results show a positive relationship with the household income living in communities with LSAIs, but a negative association with labour allocation to agricultural activities. Also, the findings indicate that households in communities where LSAIs took place received higher wages and spent fewer hours in agriculture. Though, female-headed households spent more time on agricultural activities than the male-headed households, they earn less. The analysis from the qualitative study show, among others things, that female-headed households spent more time on off-farm business despite the fact that they earn less. The study concludes by recommending that the possible adverse employment effects of LSAIs could be reduced by optimising its positive impact, especially with respect to female-headed households in rural communities where most of such investments occur.

Impact of land acquisition for large-scale agricultural investments on food security status of displaced households: The case of Ethiopia

Food insecurity has been high on the agenda since the worldwide food crisis around the mid-2000 s. Since then, Large-scale Agricultural Investments (LSAIs) have been introduced to respond to this crisis and contribute to national food security. However, under several circumstances, the LSAIs undermined local food security by displacing smallholders from their farmlands. Available researches exploring the impact of LSAIs on the food security status of displaced households are scanty. Therefore, this study aimed to empirically investigate the impact of LSAIs on household food security using survey data collected from 521 sample households from September to November 2019 in two districts in Ethiopia. The sample comprises 49% displaced households and 51% non-displaced households. The propensity score matching method (PSM) was applied to analyze the impact of LSAIs on the food security status of displaced households. The result indicated a significant deterioration of food security among the affected households. The daily food energy intake of displaced households declined by 23% (793 kilocalories per adult equivalent) compared to that of the non-displaced households, which is significant at 1%. Similarly, the annual food consumption expenditure of affected households declined by 40% compared to the non-affected households with a 1% significance level. The finding implies displacement due to the LSAIs has contributed to worsening the food security situation of the displaced smallholders in Ethiopia. Policymakers should reconsider the conventional approach to LSAIs that emphasizes land transfer and compensation and encourage inclusive and empowering methods to reverse the situation. This subject is often neglected and, therefore, can be considered a key value addition of this study.

Impact of land acquisition for large-scale agricultural investments on vulnerability of displaced households to climate change shocks in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Although the socio-economic impacts of land acquisition for large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) are well researched, studies exploring the impact of LSAIs on climate change vulnerability of the displaced smallholders are scanty or none. This study, therefore, intends to bridge this knowledge gap. It empirically investigates the impact of LSAIs on the climate change vulnerability of displaced smallholders. Data was collected from 521 sample households (49% displaced and 51% non-displaced households) using the face-to-face survey data collection method in the Oromia region. Principal component analysis (PCA) and propensity score matching (PSM) methods were applied to analyze the data. The results indicate that LSAIs have increased the vulnerability of displaced smallholder farmers to climate change shocks by up to three-fold compared to the control households, which is significant at 1%. The finding implies that policymakers should consider the implications of land deals on the vulnerability of the displaced smallholders and design appropriate adaptation strategies to mitigate the impacts. The empirical finding from this study has filled the existing information gap in the areas of climate change vulnerability of the displaced farmers.

Impact of large-scale agricultural investments on the food security status of local community in Gambella region, Ethiopia

BackgroundThe government of Ethiopia has been promoting large-scale agricultural investments to accelerate agricultural modernization and improve local people’s food security. However, studies that quantify the actual impact of such investments on the food security status of the investment hosting community using diverse food security indicators and suitable impact estimation methods are scanty. The main purpose of this article is, therefore, to analyse the impact of large-scale agricultural investments on the food security status of the Anuak community in Gambella region. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design. Data were gathered from 352 households selected through a systematic sampling technique and analysed using a Propensity Score Matching technique.ResultsThe result shows that large-scale agricultural investments have a significant negative impact on the food security status of the local community and have worsened their food insecurity problem. The investments have reduced food availability, access, and utilization of the local people and increased their vulnerability to food insecurity.ConclusionsWe conclude that the Ethiopian government and private investors have failed to generate the benefits that they aspire at the local level to ensure the food security of the affected community. We, therefore, suggest that the Ethiopian government should reform the sector in such a way that takes the local context into account and embraces local people so that they can directly benefit from employment opportunities, infrastructural development, and technological transfer.

Livelihood Impacts of Large-Scale Agricultural Investments Using Empirical Evidence from Shashamane Rural District of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The impact of Large Scale Agricultural Investments (LSAI) on local people’s livelihood improvement has received less attention than it deserves in Ethiopia in general, and the Oromia regional states in particular. The main objective of this study was to analyze the impact of LSAI, which began operations in 2008, on 10,000 hectares of fertile land in the Shashamane rural district of Oromia region, Ethiopia to enhance the quality of life of the local people. A quasi-experimental study design strategy was used to achieve this goal. We obtained primary data from 300 households, comprising 134 treatment homes (households in a community with LSAI) from the Shashamane rural district and 166 control households (households in a community without LSAI) from the Shala district using systematic random sampling. Analysis was undertaken using principal component analysis (PCA) and propensity score matching (PSM). The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) was used to examine the theoretical concept with empirical findings. According to the Average Treatment Effect on Treated (ATT) results, the treated households’ natural, human, and financial capital were −0.91, −0.81, and −0.15 less than control families, respectively. Loss of household livelihoods has deepened and exacerbated local poverty. Businesses have not mechanized and controlled these sizable portions of the parcel; instead, peasants have worked on them and exploited the idle parcel. The research suggests that the government’s pro-LSAI investment policy is desirable. However, weak institutional frameworks for protecting local people’s livelihoods as well as LSAI malpractice and the lack of continuous follow-up are causing the LSAI policy to fail. To mitigate the negative impact of LSAI on peasants, it is necessary to consider the local people’s livelihoods, responsive institutions, and accountable ventures.

Threats and management options of the green belt natural forest, northwest lowlands of Ethiopia

The natural forest located across central Africa from Gambia (West Africa) to Ethiopia (East Africa) is believed to break the expansion of the great Sahara Desert towards the southern and south eastern Africa, as a green belt. However, natural and anthropogenic factors are challenging the existence of the forest. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics, threats and sustainable management options of the green belt forest (GBF) located in Ethiopia. Satellite imagery was used to assess the GBF cover dynamics between the year 1980 and 2020 using ERDAS IMAGINE software. ArcGIS software was used for spatial analysis and mapping. Field observation, focus group discussions, and questionnaire based interview were used to collect the required data and SPSS software was used for analysis. The result showed that farmland increased from 32% (in 1980) to 52% (in 2020), whereas, the GBF cover decreased from 58% (in 1980) to 39% (in 2020), with the overall classification accuracy and kappa coefficient of 86% and 81%, respectively. Re-settlement, large-scale agricultural investment, charcoal production, fuel wood, and road construction were among the important threats causing the GBF reduction. Investors, settlers, migrants, residents and day-workers are agents of the GBF cover reduction. To minimize deforestation and sustainably use the GBF local bylaws, delineating and keeping the GBF from human interferences, building awareness, enrichment plantation, and alternative firewood sources were identified as management options. Therefore, to maintain the GBF and break the expansion of the Sahara Desert, governmental and non-governmental organization and the local community ought to apply the recommended GBF management options.

Large Scale Agricultural Investment and Natural Resources Linkage in Ethiopia: Harmony or Enemy? Systematic Review

In Ethiopia, agriculture plays a lions’ share in leading the economic growth of the country. The crippling nature of small-scale farming system pushed the government to commence large-scale farming system so as to ensure food security and promote agricultural commodity export. Therefore, the country hosted domestic and foreign investors who engage in large-scale agricultural investment. Following this, this paper aimed to review the provisional change occurred to natural resources viz water, forest and land due to the expansion of large-scale agricultural investment. The result of the review revealed that large scale agricultural investment has been affecting directly natural resources and in the long run, being scared to cause physically irreversible alterations in the natural resources in the near future. Therefore, it is highly recommended to rehabilitate the existing natural resources and confront future devastation of natural resources in the country. Keywords: large-scale, agricultural investment, natural resources, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JEES/12-6-02 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

Farmers’ perceptions of large-scale agricultural investment and its impacts on traditional ecological knowledge in Gololcha District, South Eastern Ethiopia

Farmers’ perceptions of large-scale agricultural investment and its impacts on traditional ecological knowledge in Gololcha District, South Eastern Ethiopia