Alarm bells over Africa land deals

More than 50 heads of state gathered late last month to look at ways of policing the extraordinary 'land grab' that has seen richer countries buy up at least 20 million hectares of farmland in Africa in the last two years. The United Nations is drawing up a 'code of conduct' in an effort to slow what has been described as a new scramble for Africa, while agricultural experts are calling for a new global watchdog and aid agencies are appealing for a moratorium on new deals. and a host of private investors and sovereign wealth funds have provoked serious concerns internationally with a string of aggressive and often secretive deals for large tracts of arable land in Africa. Around 40 million hectares are thought to have been leased or bought, often in countries' most fertile regions, raising concerns about food production for native Africans. The code hopes to try to break the secrecy surrounding these deals and ensure locals' rights are not being trampled on by big corporations or governments and that Africans' News focus food security is not being further threatened. " In the worst cases it's fair to say we are looking at neo-colonialism, " said David Hallam, deputy director of the trade and markets division at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In the last year Saudi Arabia has added to huge holdings in Sudan with a $100 million deal for land in famine-stricken Ethiopia; Qatar has begun acquiring 40,000 hectares in Kenya's Tana River delta to grow fruit and vegetables, despite a drought that sees the UN feeding four million Kenyans; China has added to its holdings in Zimbabwe and Algeria; and Egypt has leased 2 million acres The UN is stepping in to help protect Africans from wealthy countries leasing agricultural land in many states on the continent. Nigel Williams reports. Island troubles: Madagascar has been at the heart of secret deals between the former government and South Korea to lease land; although these deals have now been scrapped, environmental problems continue. (Picture: Photolibrary.)