The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth

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The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth Page 36

by Fred Pearce


  The quotes from Liz Alden Wily come from “The Law Is to Blame: The Vulnerable Status of Common Property Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Development and Change, Vol. 42, pp. 733–757) at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com; “Whose Land Are We Giving Away, Mr. President?” http://siteresources.worldbank.org (2010); and her Brighton conference paper “Nothing New under the Sun or a New Battle Joined?” On possible soy farming in Mozambique, see “Mozambique Offers Brazilian Farmers Land to Plant,” http://farmlandgrab.org/ (2011).

  Chapter 27: London, England

  Beddington is quoted from “Report: Urgent Action Needed to Avert Global Hunger,” http://www.bbc.co.uk (2011). His “Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures” can be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk. Also see Collier’s “Food Shortages: Think Big,” at http://www.timesonline.co.uk (2008). Ferguson’s 2008 report is at http://farmlandgrab.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20081027-agriculture-richard-ferguson.pdf. Tapp’s response to the Beddington report can be accessed at http://www.bidwells.co.uk. For Watson’s analysis, see “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development,” http://www.agassessment.org (2008).

  Collier complains of romanticism among his critics in “The Politics of Hunger,” http://www.foreignaffairs.com (2008). Raj Patel’s article, “Can the World Feed 10 Billion People?” is at http://www.foreignpolicy.com (2011). See also “Awaking Africa’s Sleeping Giant,” http://siteresources.worldbank.org (2009), and Hunt and Lipton’s “Green Revolutions for sub-Saharan Africa?” at http://www.chathamhouse.org (2011). Hazell’s “The Future of Small Farms for Poverty Reduction and Growth,” is online at http://www.ifpri.org (2007), and ILRI’s report, “Back to the Future,” can be found at http://mahider.ilri.org (2010).

  For the Malawi experiment, see “The Malawi Agricultural Inputs Subsidy Programme, 2005/6 to 2008/9,” http://siteresources.worldbank.org (2011), and “The Malawi Fertiliser Programme: Politics and Pragmatism,” http://www.future-agricultures.org (2008). Also read “Push-pull Technology: A Conservation Agriculture Approach” in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, http://www.earthscan.co.uk/ (2011). Reij’s stories of Sahel regreening appear at http://africa-regreening.blogspot.com.

  Mortimore, Tiffen, and Gichuki’s book on Machakos, More People, Less Erosion (John Wiley, 1994) is updated at http://www.drylandsresearch.org.uk. I have written about it in “Out of the Demographic Trap: Hope for Feeding the World,” at http://e360.yale.edu (2010), and “Desert Harvest,” http://www.newscientist.com (2001). I wrote about Jitbhai Chowdhury in “Earth: The Parched Planet,” http://www.newscientist.com (2006), and in When the Rivers Run Dry. Smit has written on urban agriculture at http://www.jacsmit.com. Pretty’s “Sustainable Intensification in Africa” appears in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, http://www.earthscan.co.uk/ (2011).

  Index

  Please note that page numbers are not accurate for the e-book edition.

  Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, King, 32, 34

  Abir, Chris, 54, 58, 63

  Abraaj Capital, 34

  Abu Dhabi, 34–35, 37, 47–48

  Adams, Warren, 153–4

  Addax Bioenergy, 240

  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 4, 12, 15, 16, 248, 286, 300

  Adecoagro, 120. See also Soros, George

  African Parks Foundation, 227

  African Wildlife Foundation, 215

  Afrikaner. See Boer

  agriculture, efficiency in, 31, 90, 100, 245, 292–93, 294–96, 300

  AgriFirma, 97, 115, 119–20, 125

  Agri South Africa (Agri-SA), 233–37

  Agriterra, 247

  AgroGeneration, 109

  Al Ain National Wildlife, 47–48

  Alden Wily, Liz, 287–89

  Ali, Brigadier Mohamed Abdul Rahim Al, 211, 212, 214

  Al-Jazeera TV, 35

  Almarai, 30

  Alpcot Agro, 108, 111

  Al Qaeda, 287

  Al Qudra Holding, 35, 37

  Al-Rajhi, brothers and Bank, 29, 32, 33

  Altima Partners, ix, 96, 144

  Amaggi. See Maggi, Blairo

  Amazon rainforest, 70, 116, 117, 120, 129, 145, 153, 231, 267

  American Sugar, 193, 195, 241

  Amin, President Idi, 224

  Amnesty International, 41, 170

  Amoudi, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al, 5, 9, 239. See also Saudi Star

  Anaya, James, UN special rapporteur, 211–12

  Angola, 89, 236, 246

  Anuak, 3, 4, 10–15

  Apocalypse Now, 138

  Arab Spring, 35, 38

  Arara Abadi, 169–70

  Arbenz, Jacobo, 143

  ArcelorMittall, 74–75

  Argentina, 27, 125, 130, 136, 138, 144, 149–54; land grabbed in, 36, 99, 120, 151, 202. See also Patagonia

  Argentine Southern Land Company, 151

  Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL), 170–71, 173–77, 178

  Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), 168–70, 173, 175, 177–78

  Associated British Foods (ABF), 238. See also Illovo; Western family

  Asuncion, Paraguay, 129, 132, 135, 138

  Atama Plantation, 88

  Australia, 23, 157–61, 178, 182, 192, 238, 266, 267, 272, 289; land grabbed in, 36, 37, 100, 157–61

  Australian Agricultural Company, 157

  Awash National Park, Ethiopia, 286

  Ayoreo Indians, 131, 134–35

  Badia, 283–84, 285, 289

  Bahia, Brazil, 97, 115, 118–27, 202

  Bahrain, 37, 38, 160

  Ballve, Teo, 146–47

  Bambara, 272, 281

  bananas, 33, 56, 95, 188, 189, 192, 235, 272, 280; banana republics, 141–42, 147

  Bangladesh, 21

  banking crisis of 2008. See also credit crunch

  Baro River, Ethiopia, 7, 8, 14, 15

  Barreiras, Brazil, 119, 120–21, 123, 125, 127

  Batwa “pygmies,” 224–25

  Bayliss, Peter, 81–85, 88, 90

  Beddington, John, 291, 292–95, 301

  Bedford Biofuels, 248–49

  Bedouin, 35, 283–84

  beef, 27, 116, 118, 138, 141, 157–59, 247

  Beidahuang Land Cultivation Group, 202

  Beigbeder, Charles, 109

  Belarus, 110

  Benetton family, 149, 151–52, 154

  Benin, 88, 202

  Bernhard, Prince, 223, 224, 225, 226–67, 230

  Bin Laden Group, 33

  biodiesel. See biofuels

  biofuels, x, 20, 22–23, 82, 87, 98, 110, 118–19, 144, 184, 202, 235, 238–40, 258, 267; bubble bursts, 243–52; and carbon cycle, 251–2; and food price spike, 23, 26; in Liberia, 82; in Mozambique, 243–47; in South Sudan, 45; in Ukraine, 107. See also jatropha

  Birdlife International, 249

  black earth, viii, 100, 108–9, 111–12, 115

  Black Earth Farming, 100, 111

  Blair, Tony, 79

  Blattner family, 86, 89, 264

  Boer, 94, 223, 227, 233–37, 260

  Bolivia, 130, 131–33, 135, 144–45

  Bollore Group, 88, 263–4

  Boma National Park, South Sudan, 47, 49

  Boone, Ronald, 54–58, 60–61

  Botswana, 227, 233, 247, 259

  bourgou, 271–73, 279–80

  Bozo fishers, 272, 274, 281

  Branson, Richard, vii, 226, 231

  Brasilia, 116, 117, 124, 125

  Brazil, vii, viii, 23, 27, 36, 90, 100, 115–27, 145, 147, 154, 159–61, 205, 238, 240, 250, 291, 295; Brazilians in Africa, 234, 288; Brazilians in Latin America, 129–36, 138; Forest Cod
e, 121–22, 126; and REDD, 267. See also Amazon; Bahia; cerrado

  Bridges, Lucas, 150, 258

  Brittingham’s Tanzania Adventures, Jack, 212

  Broken Ear, The (Herge), 132

  Brownell, Alfred, 76–77, 79, 85

  Buchanan, Liberia, 67, 73, 81

  Buchanan Renewables, 73–75, 77

  Buckley, Lila, 203–4

  Bulgaria, 110

  Bunge, 117, 123, 125, 127, 202

  Burgess, Calvin, 53–58, 60–63, 83

  Burkina Faso, 21, 272, 274, 287

  Burma, 35, 200, 266

  Bush, President George W., 132, 250

  Cabbages and Kings (O. Henry), 142

  Cambodia, 32, 35, 36, 168, 187–96, 200, 201, 205; economic land concessions, 189, 194

  Cambodian League for the Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO), 192

  camels, 219, 283, 285, 286

  Cameroon, 21, 88–89, 204, 263–264

  Campo Aberto, Brazil, 115, 119

  Canada, 27, 110–11, 132, 159, 167, 289; investors in Africa, 48, 73, 90, 238, 241, 246, 248, 249

  Carbon Planet, 267

  Cargill, 8, 110, 117, 121, 123, 125, 159, 202, 294

  Casaccia, Jose Luis, 138

  Casado, Carlos, 136

  Cayman Islands, 90, 97, 202

  Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 178, 250, 268

  Central African Republic, 265

  Central Equatoria Teak, 47

  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 43, 143

  cerrado, 112, 115–17, 129, 130, 161, 202, 205, 295; colonization since 1960s, 116–17, 123–24; indigenous people and slavery, 117, 119, 122–23; wildlife and biodiversity, 115–16, 118, 120–21, 124, 126

  Chaco, 129–39, 150, 154; Brazilian ranchers, 129–31, 134–35; indigenous groups, 133, 134–35, 137–39; wildlife and conservation, 129–31, 134, 135–37, 138–39

  Changhae Tapioka, 184

  Chavez, President Hugo, 141

  Chernobyl, Ukraine, 110

  Chicago, vii, 19–20, 116

  Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), 19–20, 25, 27

  chiefs, authority of, 11, 33, 45–46, 63, 65, 66, 99–100, 174, 235, 249–50

  Chile, 150–51, 153–54

  China, vii, 30, 109, 123, 133, 167–68, 170, 172, 178, 199–205, 234, 280, 292; in Africa, 75, 88, 202–4, 234, 265, 175–76, 277, 279, 280; in Asia, 110, 181, 185, 192, 199–201, 202, 205; in Australasia, 159–60; consumer demand, 22, 67, 181, 200–2; future war with West, 95, 201; land grabbing in, 202, 203; in Latin America, 126, 127, 202

  China State Farms Agribusiness Corporation, 204

  Cholmondeley family, 217

  Chongqing Grain Group, 127, 202

  Citadel Capital, 48

  climate change, viii, x, 22, 95, 130, 243, 267, 291, 292

  Club 21, 226–67

  cocoa, 27, 84, 97

  coffee, 7, 20, 25, 41, 101, 115, 118, 142, 143, 256

  Collier, Paul, 291–95, 301

  Colombia, vii, 142, 145–47

  Coming Anarchy, The (Robert Kaplan), 43

  commodity markets, 23, 26, 27, 100, 202, 293

  commons, tragedy of the, x, 285

  Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), 47, 101

  Complant International Sugar, 202

  Congo-Brazzaville, 88, 89, 227, 234, 264, 265

  Congo, Democratic Republic of (DRC), 85, 88, 89, 90, 203, 227

  Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), 265

  Congo River, 85, 89

  Conservation International (CI), 74, 117, 118, 126, 229

  Conservation refugees, 229–30

  Conway, Gordon, 295

  corruption, 38, 45, 53, 74, 141, 144, 171, 174–75, 194, 257, 267

  Costa Rica, 135, 142

  Costello, Peter, 192

  Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), 21, 68, 88, 89, 239, 274

  Cotton, 37, 199, 202, 236, 238, 256, 265, 275; in Australia, 159–60; in Brazil, 115, 118–19, 124–25, 131; in Ethiopia, 5, 7

  Crafar Farms, New Zealand, 160

  Craig, David and Ian, 218–19

  credit crunch, 20, 24–27, 37, 82, 101

  Cuba, 142, 143

  Curran, Bryan, 229–30

  Daewoo, 205

  dairy industry, 57, 59, 111, 126, 133, 189, 202, 224, 260, 283, 285, 298–300; in Gulf, vii, 29–32; in India, 7, 300; in New Zealand, 160, 203

  Dangote, Aliko, 239

  Danzer Group, 264

  Defensores del Chaco, Paraguay, 131, 135

  Deng, David, 42–43

  Denton, Tim, 101–2

  derivatives, financial, 20, 25–26, 93, 96, 100

  desertification, 285, 298

  Desmond Holdings, 99

  Dexion Capital, 110

  Dinka, 42, 49

  Diouf, Jacques, 34

  Doan Nguyen Duc, 200

  Doe, Samuel, 66–67, 76, 78

  Dominican Republic, 142

  Dominion Farms, 53–63

  Douglas, Howard Eugene, 44–46

  drug trade, 136, 141, 143–44, 146–47, 192

  Dubai, 34–35, 37, 83, 157, 211, 231

  Edmonds, Phil, 97, 246–47, 258

  Egypt, 21, 30, 32, 37, 48–49, 86, 240, 266

  Elliott Wave theory, 95

  Emergent Asset Management, 93–95, 201, 237

  “empty” lands, x, 9, 11, 44, 54, 76, 103, 115–16, 134, 149, 248, 260, 288

  Energem, 246

  Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO), 81–85, 87, 89–90

  Estonia, 109

  Ethanol. See biofuels

  Ethiopia, 3–16, 44, 47, 228–29, 239, 244, 248, 286, 300

  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 110

  European Union (EU), 26, 108, 109, 116, 250; Everything But Arms, 195–6; market for forest products, 69, 177, 185; market for sugar, 187, 195–96, 238

  Evans, M.P., 158

  Ex-Im Bank, 109, 204

  famine, 9, 16, 22, 24, 44, 103, 291, 293

  Far East Agricultural Investment, 32–33

  Farm Lands of Guinea, 99

  Fauna and Flora International, 217

  FELDA Holdings, 157

  Ferguson, Richard, 291–92, 295

  Fernando Po, 66

  Feronia Inc., ix, 90

  Filadelfia, Paraguay, 133–34

  Filer, Colin, 182–86

  Finland, 47, 167, 168, 177

  Firestone, 66, 69–73, 75, 77, 79, 84

  Flora EcoPower, 248

  Fonterra, 160, 203

  food: export bans, 32, 103, 204; price of, vii, 5, 31–32, 37, 38, 75, 95, 101, 195, 238, 291, 297; 2008 price spike, 19–27, 34, 96, 293; security, 22, 34, 37, 96, 112, 280, 293–94, 296; self-sufficiency, 21, 29–30, 32, 277

  Forest Peoples Programme, 229

  Forest Stewardship Council, 173, 177

  Formosa do Rio Preto, Brazil, 121–22, 124

  Fortress conservation, 224, 228, 230

  France and French, vii, 30, 103, 109, 193, 201, 217, 273, 274, 299; and timber trade, 67, 88, 263–65

  Frayne, Michael, 81–82, 84, 87–88

  Friends of the Earth, 176, 245

  Friends of Yala Swamp, 62

  Fulani, 272, 274–76, 281

  Fundacion Tierra, 145

  Gabon, 88, 229, 235, 263–65

  Gaddafi, Colonel Muammar, 67, 109, 277

  Gambella, Ethiopia, 3–16, 44, 47, 49, 239, 244, 288, 289

  Garamba National Park, DRC, 226, 227

  Georgia, 237

  Germany and Germans, 24, 30, 58, 78, 83
, 167, 213, 243, 259; German land grabbers, 160, 218, 264, 265; Germans in South America, 117, 131, 132, 134, 138

  Getty family, 81–82, 84, 231

  Gezira project, Sudan, 37

  Ghana, 89, 249–50, 274, 288

  Global Witness, 68

  goats, 59, 159, 272, 277, 281, 284, 286, 296

  Gold, Dan, 97

  Golden Agri, 85, 88

  Goldman Sachs, vii, 21, 24–25, 93, 97, 110, 111, 154, 158, 203, 237, 240; Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, 25

  Gold Star Farms, 249

  Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck), ix, 123

  Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, 227, 247

  Green Advocates, 76

  Greenleaf Global, 98

  Greenpeace, 263

  Green Resources, 48

  green revolution, 22, 295, 296

  Greenworld BVI, 98

  Groundnut Scheme, Tanganyika, 103–4

  Grumeti game reserve, Tanzania, 209–210, 259

  Grzimek, Bernhard, 213, 230

  Guarani, 145

  Guatemala, 142–44

  Guinea, vii, 21, 75, 76, 99

  Guinea Bissau, 204

  Guinea Savannah Zone, 9

  Guyra Paraguay, 130, 136–37

  Haes, Charles de, 223–25

  Haiti, 22, 300

  Hall, Ruth, 235, 237

  Hands, Guy, 97, 158

  Hanks, John, 227

  Hardin, Garrett, 285

  Hasan, Mohamad “Bob,” 172

  Hassad Food, 36, 159

  Hazim Hazim Chehade, 263

  Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), ix, 85, 264

  hedge funds, vii, 24, 37, 73, 90, 96, 97, 100, 109, 110, 114, 210, 245

  Heilberg, Philippe, 41–45

  Herakles Farms, 89

  Hickey, Liam, 74–75, 77

  hippo grass. See bourgou

  Honduras, 142

  Honest Timber, 265

  Hong Lai Huat Group (HLH), 191

  Horita, Walter, 124

  Horlick, Nicola, 97

  Hovev brothers, 248

  HSBC, 117

  Human Rights Watch, 12, 169

  Huxley, Julian, 213, 224, 230

  Hyundai Heavy Industries, 112, 205

  IFFCO, 157

  Illovo, 238–39, 241, 276

  Il Ngwesi eco-lodge, Kenya, 219

  India, 167, 190, 200, 217, 238, 240, 265, 284, 299–300; investors in Ethiopia, 6–8, 13, 16, 286; investors elsewhere, vii, 82; rice export ban, 23, 32

 

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