The control of farming land is a crucial issue, but who, exactly, is acquiring it? This article lists purchases by South Korea, Saudi Arabia which come to only about 1,500,000 ha out of total purchases of 30 million ha. 8 million hectares have been acquired by South African interests. Are all these acquisitions really “to grow food for countries such as China and the Gulf states who cannot produce enough for their populations”? Couldn’t other players be involved? It is well known that a speculative bubble in farmland has developed with the collapse of the housing bubble and George Soros, who has been involved in buying up land in Argentina for some years, is once again to the fore. As the Anglo-Saxon financial system collapses the control of farmland, the ultimate real asset, becomes an issue not just for economic gain but for strategic control of the world.
John Vidal
3rd July, 2009
The acquisition of farmland from the world’s poor by rich countries and international corporations is accelerating at an alarming rate, with an area half the size of Europe’s farmland targeted in the last six months, reports from UN officials and agriculture experts say.
In These New Times 