Intl leasing of farmlands spark global protests

Tag : rice crops


New York, July 12: Emerging nations are trying to cash in on the global food crisisby getting big importers of crops to effectively lease theirfarmlands, a new trend that has sparked complaints from farmers insome countries who are concerned about their own food supplies, amedia report said on Saturday.
The latest example, says the financial daily Wall Street Journal , is a plan by the Indonesian government to develop a large farmingtract on the remote province of Papua to grow rice, sugar cane andsoybeans.
Promoters of the project have met Saudi investors in the hopes ofreceiving hundreds of millions of dollars in return for dedicatingpart of the crops to the Middle East nation, the paper said.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, it said, are scouring theglobe for agricultural investments to lock in supply of key cropslike wheat, corn and rice, much as countries like China haveinvested billions to secure a steady stream of oil.
But the Journal says there is a big risk in the new trend. Nationssuch as Indonesia have had to contend with protests at home as foodprices have risen this year. The idea of attracting investment inreturn for exporting politically sensitive crops like rice couldstir further discontent and prompt accusations that rich nationsare being favoured over the domestic market, it added.
That, it pointed out, proved a contentious issue last year whenleaders in the Philippines announced a series of deals with Chineseinvestors covering about USD 5 billion in investments to grow cropsincluding corn, rice and sorghum.
Filipino farmers in remote areas have been struggling to feed theirfamilies in recent years due to a chronic lack of investment inagriculture, and they balked at the idea of allowing Chineseinvestors to control land and send food overseas, the report said.
They wrote to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to block the dealand the government eventually suspended the plans, though itexpects to send a delegation to China soon to discuss furtherpossibilities for agricultural investment.
The key, the paper said, is to ensure that foreign investments inagriculture also serve the local population. Chinese investors needto develop production "not just for the tables of the Chinese, butalso for the tables of the Filipinos," it quoted Senator EdgardoAngara, chairman of the Philippines Senate's agriculture committeeas saying.
The Saudis are also aware of potential backlash, the paperreported, adding that Khalid Zainy, a Saudi businessman who isinvolved in his country's efforts to look for agriculturalinvestments, says that farm deals with foreign governments willlikely allocate a percentage of crops for sale in the local market.
"This is to ensure that these projects will go uninterrupted and sothat the countries and the people there don't cause us problems,"he says.
Such deals are likely to spring up in the next few years. Investorsfrom China, which imports huge amounts of soybeans and crude palmoil, are purchasing farm land in Africa and Southeast Asia, theJournal said, adding South Korea, too, is considering investing ina 270,000-hectare farm project in eastern Mongolia.