GOVERNMENTS WARNED AGAINST LAND GRABS

BULAWAYO - A recent study by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) at the request of UN Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) warns that land acquisitions are on the increase in Africa and other continents, raising the risk, if not made properly, that poor people will be evicted or lose access to land, water, and other resources. Writes Simba Nembaware

The study, "Land Grab or Development Opportunity? Agricultural Investments and International Land Deals in Africa", includes new research from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. It acknowledges that land acquisitions bring many opportunities such as guaranteed outlets, employment, and investment in infrastructures, increases in agricultural productivity but also states that this causes great harm if local people are excluded from decisions about allocating land and if their land rights are not protected.

Food and energy security concerns and "other factors such as business opportunities demand for agricultural commodities for industry and recipient country agency" were noted as drivers for these acquisitions.

Foreign investors have therefore been noted as dominating land-based investment over the past five years with domestic investors also playing a "big role in land acquisitions." The report reveals that private sector deals are more common than government-to-government ones, though governments are using a range of tools to indirectly support private deals.

The report found that many countries do not have sufficient mechanisms to protect local rights and take account of local interests, livelihoods and welfare. It said: "A lack of transparency and of checks and balances in contract negotiations can promote deals that do not maximize the public interest. Insecure local land rights, inaccessible registration procedures, vaguely defined productive use requirements, legislative gaps and other factors too often undermine the position of local people."

It calls for carefully assessing local contexts, including existing land uses and claims; securing land rights for rural communities; involving local people in negotiations, and proceeding with land acquisition only after their free, prior and informed consent.