Land Grab

The so-called African land grab grabbed a lot of headlines at the end of 2009: Guardian, NYTimes, BBC, not a bad collection, all available through the African Agriculture blog.

Malibya, the Libyan government's development company in Mali, has built one of the largest canals in Africa. The largely critical article from The Guardian [who apparently failed to ask permission to be on the company's land] notes that 150 families were forced off their land for the canal with minimal compensation and worries that this is only the beginning.

"The government are bandits. What they are doing is completely against every law," says Ibrahim Coulibaly, president of the Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes, which has been organising protests. "Even if the land does belong to the government, the people living on it still have rights, and we will do everything to fight against this injustice."

Mapping systems are said to be quite poor, causing construction workers to dig up several cemeteries which led, very understandably, to further local opposition. There are also serious concerns about water rights issues. A NYTimes article mentioned that " 'In Mozambique, one investment company discovered an entire village with its own post office on what had been described as vacant land,' said Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations food rapporteur. ... The agreement signed with the Libyans grants them the land for at least 50 years simply in exchange for developing it."

Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, says that “The food security of the country concerned must be first and foremost in everybody’s mind. Otherwise it is straightforward exploitation and it won’t work. We have seen a scramble for Africa before. I don’t think we want to see a second scramble of that kind.”

Of course, statements like this from the state-funded companies do little to help:

Kassoum Denon, the regional head for the Office du Niger, accused the Malian opponents of being paid by Western groups that are ideologically opposed to large-scale farming. “We are responsible for developing Mali,” he said. “If the civil society does not agree with the way we are doing it, they can go jump in a lake.”

One US project is supporting 800 farmers to acquire title to about 12 acres of land each.

How large are the parcels of land being transferred to foreign governments? The World Bank estimates that, between Jan-Nov in 2009 alone, enough land to match California and West Virginia combined, more than 10 times the size of annual land transfer deals worldwide before the food price spike. In Mali, the range is between 600k [as reported by the foreigners] and 1.5 million hectares.

BBC reports that Ethiopia is selling off an area the size of Belgium populated largely by ethnic minorities at about $10/yr/ha. "The Ethiopian government stipulates that foreign investors will have to satisfy domestic food needs before they can export." The government claims that the land is unused, but there are millions of pastoralists in the country, many of whom pass through that area and none of whom are being compensated.

More posts on the Africa "land grab," and a general article mentioning several of the larger deals and concerns. Senegal is reportedly in talks with Saudi Arabia about a parcel of land 4 times the size of Manhattan.

Investing in African Agriculture

Senegal now produces 50% of its rice consumption, according to the government. This is up significantly from earlier and claimed to be the result of the president's agricultural investment program. Producers associations apparently claim production is not up that much.ni

Tanzania is hoping to triple rice production in three years. They are partnering with AfricaRice, targeting larger farms, and pushing genetically modified Nerica (NEw RICe for Africa) varieties. If successful, this would move Tanzania from being a rice importer to a rice exporter. The article praises Nerica:

Guinean farmers have managed to increase their yields by 50 per cent without the use of fertilisers and by more than 200 percent with fertilisers. Cultivating Nerica varieties also has shown a positive effect on schooling rate of children. This effect is partly the result of Nerica’s shorter growth cycle and higher weed competitiveness, alleviating the labour burden put on children, and partly as a result of the higher yields and quality, generating higher revenues.

A Norwwegian company is also investing in Tanzanian fertilizer capacity, according to a company press release. The Mozambique government is investing in livestock, also according to company press releases.

Researchers speaking at the December climate change conference in Mexico argued that a "culture of maize" was holding back African farmers' ability to cope with climate change.

Blessing Chinsinga, science and research lecturer with Chancellor College University of Malawi: “While politicians equate the availability of maize to food security, a family without maize in the farming communities is associated with vulnerability. If you have millet or sorghum, many will still think you are desperate because you do not have maize.” ...

Mclay Kanyangarara, climate change advisor for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa:  “Maize is an introduced crop and the small grains have always been our traditional indigenous crops, which are better suited to our climate. Maize is also more capital intensive, requiring a lot of fertilizer and pesticides and we need to realise that we cannot force it to grow."

The mechanization of tea leaf picking in Kenya is not met with universal approval. Anyone surprised?

Big Bag of Food Politics and research

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria is asking the government to freeze rice imports as more than 75% of production had remained unsold as of two weeks ago. A Dutch NGO, a Kenyan NGO, and the Kenyan Ministry of Livestock are working together to teach pastoralists about storing hay so they can keep their animals alive longer during the expected upcoming drought. The local food movement in Senegal.

Florida tomato workers' representatives won them a 1 penny per pound raise. "The raise will bring most workers annual salary from 10,000 to 17,000 dollars." NPR's report is pretty shocking, including successfully prosecuted episodes of slavery. In FLORIDA. The growers' association is putting pressure on growers to not provide workers the pay raise.

Cornell researchers Wansink, Just, and McKendry on kids' food choices and school lunch lines. "Children and teenagers resist heavy-handed nutritional policies — and the food that is associated with the heavy hand. No food is nutritious, after all, until it is actually eaten. ... When cafeteria workers asked each child, 'Do you want a salad?' salad sales increased by a third." Other behavioral nudges included placing of healthy foods, making kids pay cash for cookies, and adjusting the size of food containers.

On the bad combination of alcohol and caffeine. "As for caffeine, its effects when combined with alcohol are considered serious enough to merit creation of a new journal, the Journal of Caffeine Research: The International Multidisciplinary Journal of Caffeine Science. The journal will be devoting much attention to the role of caffeine in alcohol energy drinks." Michigan has banned the drinks.

Change.org takes issue (surprise surprise) with a new factory farm livestock operations in Oswego (a 72k cow farm) claiming they are environmentally sustainable. The companies are touting their recycling, production of biofuels from waste, and "closed-loop, integrated technology platform." Velez worries this will lead to increased cattle infections both on the farm and on others, the increased grain consumption, and resident anger. I'm a little confused from his writing whether the company is applying for permits or for subsidies.

Powell on optimal systems:

There’s good farmers and bad farmers, whatever system they’re using, and I’m more interested in making sure people don’t barf, whatever kind of food they choose. There are endless scientific reports about which system is better, but they don’t say much. A new report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown onions, carrots, and potatoes generally do not have higher levels of healthful antioxidants and related substances than vegetables grown with traditional fertilizers and pesticides.