If there is ‘farmer’s suicide’ in India, there is ‘land grabbing’ in Africa. One week ago, I had no idea what this term meant.
Dictionary define it as ‘An aggressive taking of land, especially by military force, in order to expand territorial holdings or broaden power.’
And as usual, you need to read in between the lines. There’s a lot not stated. And avoided.
So, last week, once again, the Guardian newspaper bought out a new insight into one of those ignored topics. It explained ‘Land grabbing’ by famous American Universities like Harward and Vanderbilt in vast lands of Africa and how it would prove to be a major challenge for global food security.’
These ‘land grabs’ are massively advantageous to these institutes and foreign investors. Though, most of the poor countries where land grabbing is practised and invested in, the standard of economic development and job guarantee is very low.
The American Universities have declined to comment on the amount of investment done in the African countries, analysts reveal that most of the acquisition is channelled through the Emergent Asset Management located in London. This management team is run by former JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs Currency dealers.
‘Emergent’s rebuttal’
The CEO of Emergent Asset Management, Susan Payne wrote to me, stating ‘The allegations set out in the Oakland Report are grossly inaccurate.’
Later, Alex Glover, the PR of Emergent emailed me the rebuttal which said – the company states that ‘information is incorrectly reported throughout the piece and attempts to create an image of Emergent that is in direct contravention to our core principles and operating practices.’
The rebuttal also includes official declaration that the company ‘stands by its mission to increase food production involving commercial farms and smallholders alike, and uplifting communities through, for example, the provision of employment, access to agricultural support for improved crop production, clean water, various facilities and health care by deploying private pools of capital.’
‘Hot bet’
BBC once reported that Susan Payne considers ‘Africa as a hot bet.’ I guess, it was two years ago when she said it.
Susan believes that low cost of land, change in the eating habits, increase in population and rising need of bio-fuels have enhanced the appeal of Africa as a financial reward to the world.
Some of the African countries where land grab is implemented are Zambia, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, DR Congo and Swaziland.
The Oakland Institute, based in California, has done several researches on the outcome of the grabbed lands. The results confirm that various US clients of Emergent Asset management have invested around %500 m in the most fertile lands in Africa with the hope of 25% returns.
In their defense, a spokersperson from the Emergent Management has stated that the acquisition of land is done in a responsible manner so that more jobs can be created.
‘Loopholes in the rebuttal’
The stated rebuttal by Emergent Asset Management does not clearly mention the name of the other alleged universities which are also involved in this case under the research published by the Oakland Institute.
At the same time, the in depth analysis with exact figures and statistics regarding the economic impact of the ‘land grabbing’ on the lives of local land holders is not dealt with.
‘Challenge for small land owners’
But there is another side to the entire investment of pension funds and endowment firms by universities and companies in Africa. Unfortunately, most of the local land owners are removed by force when foreign investment comes in.
Even UN has warned, stating that these local farmers and land holders do not have formal rights over the land which makes them pay a huge price.
In most cases, they are not even given compensation and consultation.
Frederic Mousseau, the policy director at Oakland stated that this would turn out to be ‘greater threat to global security, even more than terrorism.’
He also defended that a very integral part of the world’s population is dependent on farming and this kind of investment can seriously jeopardise their income and living.
Hence, high level of transparency and credibility is being demanded in response to the allegations made to the universities. Currently, the universities have declined to reveal their investment strategies.
shubhdachaudhary 