The new African land grab
Agricultura, Durerea Lumii, Economie, English section | 28 aprilie 2013 | AciduzzulForeign investors, with the World Bank, are acquiring vast tracks of land in Africa – at the expense of local farmers. Smallholder farms are disappearing across Africa because of large-scale foreign investment. The “town” chief of the village seemed to be in a state of shock. Sitting on the front porch of his mud and thatch home in Pujehun District in southern Sierra Leone, he struggled to find words that could explain how he had signed away the land that sustained his family and his community. He said he was coerced by his Paramount Chief, told that whether he agreed, or not, his land would still be taken and his small oil palm stand destroyed. He didn’t know the name of the foreign investor nor did he know that it planned to lease up to 35,000 hectares of farmland citeste si comenteaza …