Despite recent headlines about the ‘land rush’, scant empirical evidence implies that the debate is often theoretical and dominated by preconceived notions. To provide evidence that could better inform the debate, this paper focuses on three areas. First,we find that new land demand, which skyrocketed after the 2007/08 commodity price spike, remained at high levels, with a strong focus on Africa, and often countries with weak land rights protection. Some countries transferred large areas to investors, frequently locals, with limited…

Abstract In West Africa, domestic investors acquire plots of farm land using their connections, powers and resources. Some policy makers view these investments as a start towards the development of agribusiness and state that these “new actors” will modernise and professionalize farming and ask smallholders to make space. Who are those new actors, how did they obtain the land, under what conditions, and how are they investing? Why are customary authorities engaging in these land transactions and what are the…

Introduction Le Bénin est un pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest qui s’étend sur 112 600 Km² de superficie pour unepopulation de près de huit millions (8.000.000) d’habitants et qui est essentiellement agricole.En effet, plus de 56% de la population tire ses revenus de l’agriculture, qui fournit 38,4% duProduit Intérieur Brut. C’est un pays à faible indice de développement humain (IDH), qui estclassé 161ème pays (IDH= 0.492calculé en 2007) sur 182 au niveau mondial.Le pays dispose de 8,3 millions d’hectares utilisables pour…