ID :
12387
Sun, 07/13/2008 - 20:31
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http://m.oananews.org//node/12387
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Attempts to lease farmlands spark protest: Report
New York, July 12 (PTI) Emerging nations are trying to cash in on the global food crisis by getting big importers of crops to effectively lease their farmlands, a new trend that has sparked complaints from farmers in some countries who are concerned about their own food supplies, a media report saidSaturday.
The latest example, says the financial daily Wall Street Journal, is a plan by the Indonesian government to develop a large farming tract on the remote province of Papua to growrice, sugar cane and soybeans.
Promoters of the project have met Saudi investors in the hopes of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in return for dedicating part of the crops to the Middle East nation,the paper said.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, it said, are scouring the globe for agricultural investments to lock in supply of key crops like wheat, corn and rice, much as countries like China have invested billions to secure a steadystream of oil.
But the Journal says there is a big risk in the new trend. Nations such as Indonesia have had to contend with protests at home as food prices have risen this year. The idea of attracting investment in return for exporting politically sensitive crops like rice could stir further discontent and prompt accusations that rich nations are being favoured overthe domestic market, it added.
That, it pointed out, proved a contentious issue last year when leaders in the Philippines announced a series of deals with Chinese investors covering about USD 5 billion ininvestments to grow crops including corn, rice and sorghum.
Filipino farmers in remote areas have been struggling to feed their families in recent years due to a chronic lack of investment in agriculture, and they balked at the idea of allowing Chinese investors to control land and send foodoverseas, the report said.
They wrote to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to block the deal and the government eventually suspended the plans, though it expects to send a delegation to China soon todiscuss further possibilities for agricultural investment.
The key, the paper said, is to ensure that foreigninvestments in agriculture also serve the local population.
Chinese investors need to develop production "not just for the tables of the Chinese, but also for the tables of the Filipinos," it quoted Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of thePhilippines Senate's agriculture committee as saying.
The Saudis are also aware of potential backlash, the paper reported, adding that Khalid Zainy, a Saudi businessman who is involved in his country's efforts to look for agricultural investments, says that farm deals with foreign governments will likely allocate a percentage of crops forsale in the local market.
"This is to ensure that these projects will go uninterrupted and so that the countries and the people theredon't cause us problems," he says.
Such deals are likely to spring up in the next few years.
Investors from China, which imports huge amounts of soybeans and crude palm oil, are purchasing farm land in Africa and Southeast Asia, the Journal said, adding South Korea, too, is considering investing in a 270,000-hectare farm projectin eastern Mongolia.
The latest example, says the financial daily Wall Street Journal, is a plan by the Indonesian government to develop a large farming tract on the remote province of Papua to growrice, sugar cane and soybeans.
Promoters of the project have met Saudi investors in the hopes of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in return for dedicating part of the crops to the Middle East nation,the paper said.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, it said, are scouring the globe for agricultural investments to lock in supply of key crops like wheat, corn and rice, much as countries like China have invested billions to secure a steadystream of oil.
But the Journal says there is a big risk in the new trend. Nations such as Indonesia have had to contend with protests at home as food prices have risen this year. The idea of attracting investment in return for exporting politically sensitive crops like rice could stir further discontent and prompt accusations that rich nations are being favoured overthe domestic market, it added.
That, it pointed out, proved a contentious issue last year when leaders in the Philippines announced a series of deals with Chinese investors covering about USD 5 billion ininvestments to grow crops including corn, rice and sorghum.
Filipino farmers in remote areas have been struggling to feed their families in recent years due to a chronic lack of investment in agriculture, and they balked at the idea of allowing Chinese investors to control land and send foodoverseas, the report said.
They wrote to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to block the deal and the government eventually suspended the plans, though it expects to send a delegation to China soon todiscuss further possibilities for agricultural investment.
The key, the paper said, is to ensure that foreigninvestments in agriculture also serve the local population.
Chinese investors need to develop production "not just for the tables of the Chinese, but also for the tables of the Filipinos," it quoted Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of thePhilippines Senate's agriculture committee as saying.
The Saudis are also aware of potential backlash, the paper reported, adding that Khalid Zainy, a Saudi businessman who is involved in his country's efforts to look for agricultural investments, says that farm deals with foreign governments will likely allocate a percentage of crops forsale in the local market.
"This is to ensure that these projects will go uninterrupted and so that the countries and the people theredon't cause us problems," he says.
Such deals are likely to spring up in the next few years.
Investors from China, which imports huge amounts of soybeans and crude palm oil, are purchasing farm land in Africa and Southeast Asia, the Journal said, adding South Korea, too, is considering investing in a 270,000-hectare farm projectin eastern Mongolia.
