[frankthetank]

Front page has a story about rich countries buying up 100's of thousands of acres in Africa to plant rice because the prices have skyrocketed in recent years. I guess they never thought about their overpopulated sand deserts not being able to produce enough food

What do you guys think? Is this a trend? Will Africa become a big rice field/paddy? Where the heck will the water come from? Who is doing the farming? Does Africa have lot of ground water? Not many places left on the planet to grab huge undeveloped tracts of land...

I wonder if they'll send military if the African locals decide they want a piece of the pie?

Aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a new global international protocol.

A scramble for African farmland has in recent years seen the equivalent of Italy's entire arable land hoovered up by businesses from emerging economies

Earlier this year, legendary hedge fund speculator George Soros highlighted a new farmland buying frenzy caused by growing population, scarce water supplies and climate change. South Korea bought huge areas of Madagascar recently while Chinese interests bought up large swathes of Senegal to supply it with sesame.

He said: "I'm convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time. Eventually, of course, food prices will get high enough that the market probably will be flooded with supply through development of new land or technology or both, and the bull market will end. But that's a long ways away yet."

One other thing... Someone (rich politicians?) is getting a lot of money from these funds...what will they do with it? weapons? infrastructure (not)?

i highlighted the key problem in all of this

interesting map
http://www.globaldashboard.org/wp-conte ... d_grab.jpg

[kpeavey]

This is a cold resource war being fought with checkbooks and businessmen. On its surface, and in the short term, it sounds like a fine plan for the nations expecting to improve their food situation: Control the land, control the crops.

The problem presents later on. The end of cheap energy means the end of cheap food, regardless of its origin. The end of available fuel means the end of available food. In the meantime these nations that are buying up external farmland are undergoing urban development at home, reducing the amount of local farmland upon which their future will depend. Local carrying capacity is reduced. Throw in a food crisis, prohibit food exports in the nation with the farmland, which was done just last year, those checkbooks and businessmen get replaced real fast.

Dependency on imported food is an Achilles heel for any nation.

[WyoDutch]

I don't think I would want to be the absentee landlords "Man in Africa" when the starving locals start coming over the fence.


"Sime Darby Bhd (4197), which owns 220,000ha of oil palm estates in Liberia, plans to strengthen its presence on the African continent and is eyeing more land in Cameroon, Congo and South Africa.

Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said the conglomerate's plantation arm had received many invitations to Africa. "But nothing has been formalised and we are still at the early stage. In Liberia, we already have a team on the ground," Azhar told Business Times in an interview.

Sime Darby is one of Malaysia's top five plantation firms, with a total of 530,000ha in Malaysia and Indonesia contributing up to 70 per cent of its annual revenue. The group also develops properties, sells cars and heavy equipment, and does engineering work for the oil and gas industry, such as fabricating oil rigs.

Azhar said the expansion is part of a long-term strategy to double planted areas to one million hectares and be nearer to the growing markets of Europe and the US.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/B ... A/Article/

[green_achers]

We have a hedge fund making waves in this area buying up farmland, not for food security, but as an investment for all of that funny money looking for a home in uncertain times. I think it's sort of reprehensible, but have to admit, it's probably a good investment. I'd rather have my pension fund in that than in Microsoft.

[dorlomin]

Western companies have been doing this for decades. We have fought wars and deposed government over issues like this. Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Nestle and so on are amoung the major players today.

Famously the 1953 coup in Honduras was to protect the property of United Fruit Company.

[frankthetank]

Taking Saudi Arabia for example, with the amount of money they have and are spending on this, i don't get why they can't build a solar thermal setup to distill seawater into freshwater...use giant greenhouses like they do in southern Spain if need be. I'm sure they could become sufficient in fruit/veggies, but probably not grains.... grains are overrated anyways

[meemoe_uk]

Hi Frank,
Appropriate post for this forum. The western agribussiness aquisition of 3rd world cropland is one of the geostrategic reasons behind the AGW movement. The recent Copenhagen treaty was spose to take money from 1st world countries ( AGW polluters, debtors ) and give to the these 3rd world countrys ( nice and clean, AGW creditors ). In fact the plan for the AGW money is to part use it to finance western businesses in a new big push for 3rd world slave industry, along with grabing the useful lands.

[paimei01]

"sub-Saharan Africa". How long can that place sustain agriculture before it becomes a desert itself. Right now I want to see desert everywhere. And the bankers trying to reason with the desert : "hey we got money !!!" ...
The tower of Babel is crumbling. We take from the bottom to put at the top. We can't see anything. We are too high. Don't even know what the bottom looks like anymore. We can only see the tower.

Sidi Toui National Park, in the southern half of Tunisia.
Native vegetation can be seen returning inside the borders of this protected park (approx. 7 kilometers wide), established in 1993 to protect the region against desertification. The effects of continued agriculture, overgrazing and drought can be seen on the surrounding arid landscape

[pablonite]

rich countries buying up 100's of thousands of acres in Africa to plant rice...

...Someone (rich politicians?) is getting a lot of money from these funds...what will they do with it? weapons? infrastructure (not)?

It looks like more Agenda 21

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21

GM foods engineered to cause malnutrition and slowly convert billions into politically correct, enviromentally friendly, green fertilizer.

[cudabachi]

"sub-Saharan Africa". How long can that place sustain agriculture before it becomes a desert itself.

Jesus guys, sub-Saharan Africa covers A LOT OF TERRITORY. We are talking about a continent afterall, not a single country.