Land and Resource Use in the Philippines

The growing demand for land (2009)

In many countries of Africa, Asia and South America, over the past few years there has been a rapid increase in the demand by foreign and domestic investors for land suitable for agriculture. Large-scale investments in land, which are typically in the range of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of hectares,1 are either for agro-fuel production or – more recently – outsourced food production. This new demand from outsiders is bringing about financial resources, infrastructure and technology, but also increased pressures…

The Green Rush: The Global Race for Farmland and the Rights of Land Users (2011)

The increased volatility of prices of agricultural commodities on international markets and the merger between the energy and food commodities markets have led to a sudden surge of interest in the acquisition or lease of farmland in developing countries. The result is “land-grabbing”: a global enclosure movement in which large areas of arable land change hands through deals often negotiated between host governments and foreign investors with little or no participation from the local communities who depend on access to those lands for their…

The Great Land Grab (2009)

In the midst of a severe food and economic crisis, the “land grabbing” trend has grown as an international phenomenon. The term land grab refers to the purchase or lease of vast tracts of land by wealthier, food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing countries in order to produce crops for export. Approximately 180 instances of such land transactions have been reported since mid-2008, as nations attempt to extend their control over food-producing lands and investors attempt to…

The Food Regime in the Land Grab: Articulating ‘Global Ecology’ and Political Economy (2011)

This paper situates the land grab in the conjunctural crisis of capitalist ecology, expressed in climate, energy and food crises, which in turn transform the food/fuel regime. This crisis serves a double purpose: of justifying investment in land offshore to offset shortages in the name of food and (alternative) energy security on the one hand, and on the other, to facilitate a new wave of investment in agriculture as a solution to the profitability crisis of capital in an era…

The end of the African peasant? From investment funds and finance valuechains to peasant related questions (2011)

The last couple of years have been characterized by a “rediscovery” of agriculture as a sector for strategic activity. This sector had been gradually relegated both in the public policy agenda for whom the myths of an essentially urban growth and provision of agricultural produce at moderate cost contributed to maintain this chronic indifference, as well as in private investors’ strategies discouraged by the low financial margins and the risks inherent to this activity. Author: Ward Anseeuw, Antoine Ducastel and Jean-Jacques Gabas Published…

Struggles Over Land Resources in the Philippines (2007)

In April 2006, Enrico “Ka Eric” Cabanit was shot dead by masked assassins in Davao. He was the General Secretary of UNORKA (National Coordination of Autonomous Local Rural People’s Organizations), a national movement of peasants struggling for land reform. Cabanit was a former farm worker in the country’s largest Cavendish banana plantation owned by the powerful Floirendo family, a conduit of global fruit giants Dole and Del Monte. In the 1980s and 1990s, Cabanit, together with thousands of farm workers in banana…

The next Great Trek? South African commercial farmers move north (2011)

This paper analyses the shifting role of South African farmers, agribusiness and capital elsewhere in the Southern African region and the rest of the continent. It explores recent trends in this expansion, investigates the interests and agendas shaping such deals, and the ideologies and discourses of legitimation employed in favour of them. While for the past two decades small numbers of South African farmers have moved to Mozambique, Zambia and several other countries, this trend seems to be undergoing both a quantitative and a…

Rising Global Interest in Farmland (2011)

This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgement on the part…

Pressures on West African land: Reconciling development and investment policies (2009)

The ILC recognizes the recent wave of large‐scale land acquisitions in which governments and government-backed institutions play a large role. To dispel popular “myths” surrounding land acquisitions, the report is careful to point out that the term “land grabbing” is misleading because it implies illegal or illegitimate means of procuring land by investors, when it is oftentimes a failure of domestic policies to recognize customary use rights. Also, land investment is not a new phenomenon; what is new is the size…

La quête des terres agricoles en Afrique subsaharienne (2009)

C’est une véritable ruée sur les terres agricoles du continent qui se développe silencieusement sous nos yeux. Le phénomène est suffisamment inquiétant pour attirer l’attention de nombreuses organisations. Bien que peu d’informations précises soient encore disponibles, il importe de lancer la réflexion afin d’alimenter un débat objectif et serein.

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