Public land acquisition in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Land acquisition, investment, and development in the Lao coffee sector: Successes and failures

Despite the increasing acknowledgment of scholars and practitioners that many large-scale agricultural land acquisitions in developing countries fail or never materialize, empirical evidence about how and why they fail to date is still scarce. Too often, land deals are portrayed as straightforward investments and their success is taken for granted. Looking at the coffee sector in Laos, the authors of this article explore dimensions of the land grab debate that have not yet been sufficiently examined. Coffee concessionaires in southern Laos often fail to use all of the land granted them and fail to produce high yields on the land they do use. Thus, the authors challenge the often-assumed superiority and effectiveness of large-scale versus small-scale production, specifically the argument that they modernize agricultural production and optimize land use. They argue that examining failed investments is as important as studying successful ones for understanding the implications of the land grabbing phenomenon for social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Knowledge about the scale of “failed land deals” provides important motivation for national governments to close the gap between intentions and actual outcomes. This article engages with the current debate on quality of investment and challenges the approach of employing land concessions as a vehicle for economic development in the Lao coffee sector and in other sectors and countries.

Ethnography of a Land-Deal. Local Perceptions and Vertical Perspectives of a Large Scale Land Acquisition Project in Northern Sierra Leone

In the aftermath of the devastating civil war, the Sierra Leonean government created favourable conditions for foreign investors willing to lease large areas of land to bring development to the country. A team of anthropologists and geographers did extensive fieldwork on the Addax Bioenergy Project in order to a) document the project affected people’s (PAP) perceptions and interests on a horizontal level and b) identify the different actors that are necessary for the implementation of such a project on the vertical level. Findings indicate that the project triggers a number of processes: Cultural and linguistic differences between PAP and company, their diverse understanding of development and the stance of local elites led to misunderstandings concerning each other’s responsibilities and created a lot of frustration on both sides. Further, the loss of natural resources that comes along with the land lease affects mostly women and other vulnerable groups.

Ethnography of a Land-Deal. Local Perceptions and Vertical Perspectives of a Large Scale Land Acquisition Project in Northern Sierra Leone

Despite an increased scientific interest in the relatively new phenomenon of large-scale land acquisition (LSLA), data on processes on the local level remain sparse and superficial. However, knowledge about the concrete implementation of LSLA projects and the different impacts they have on the heterogeneous group of project affected people is indispensable for a deepened understanding of the phenomenon. In order to address this research gap, a team of two anthropologists and a human geographer conducted in-depth fieldwork on the LSLA project of Swiss based Addax Bioenergy in Sierra Leone. After the devastating civil war, the Sierra Leonean government created favourable conditions for foreign investors willing to lease large areas of land and to bring “development” to the country. Being one of the numerous investing companies, Addax Bioenergy has leased 57’000 hectares of land to develop a sugarcane plantation and an ethanol factory to produce biofuel for the export to the European market. Based on participatory observation, qualitative interview techniques and a network analysis, the research team aimed a) at identifying the different actors that were necessary for the implementation of this project on a vertical level and b) exploring various impacts of the project in the local context of two villages on a horizontal level. The network analysis reveals a complex pattern of companies, institutions, nongovernmental organisations and prominent personalities acting within a shifting technological and discursive framework linking global scales to a unique local context. Findings from the latter indicate that affected people initially welcomed the project but now remain frustrated since many promises and expectations have not been fulfilled. Although some local people are able to benefit from the project, the loss of natural resources that comes along with the land lease affects livelihoods of vulnerable groups – especially women and land users – considerably. However, this research doesn’t only disclose impacts on local people’s previous lives but also addresses strategies they adopt in the newly created situation that has opened up alternative spaces for renegotiations of power and legitimatisation. Therewith, this explorative study reveals new aspects of LSLA that have not been considered adequately by the investing company nor by the general academic discourse on LSLA.

Local Perceptions and Vertical Perspectives of a Large Scale Land Acquisition Project in Northern Sierra Leone

Despite increased scientific interest in the phenomenon of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA), accurate data on implementation processes remain sparse. This paper aims at filling this gap by providing empirical in-depth knowledge on the case of the Swiss-based Addax Bioenergy Ltd. in Sierra Leone. Extensive fieldwork allowed the interdisciplinary research team 1) the identification of different actors that are necessary for the implementation on a vertical level and 2) the documentation of the heterogeneous group of project affected people’s perceptions and strategies on a horizontal level. Findings reveal that even a project labeled as best-practice example by UN agencies triggers a number of problematic processes for affected communities. The loss of natural resources that comes along with the land lease and the lack of employment possibilities mostly affects already vulnerable groups. On the other hand, strategies and resistance of local people also affect the project implementation. This shows that the horizontal and vertical levels are not separate entities. They are linked by social networks, social interactions, and means of communication and both levels take part in shaping the project’s impacts.

Large-scale land acquisition and its effects on the water balance in investor and host countries

This study examines the validity of the assumption that international large-scale land acquisition (LSLA) is motivated by the desire to secure control over water resources, which is commonly referred to as ‘water grabbing’. This assumption was repeatedly expressed in recent years, ascribing the said motivation to the Gulf States in particular. However, it must be considered of hypothetical nature, as the few global studies conducted so far focused primarily on the effects of LSLA on host countries or on trade in virtual water. In this study, we analyse the effects of 475 intended or concluded land deals recorded in the Land Matrix database on the water balance in both host and investor countries. We also examine how these effects relate to water stress and how they contribute to global trade in virtual water. The analysis shows that implementation of the LSLAs in our sample would result in global water savings based on virtual water trade. At the level of individual LSLA host countries, however, water use intensity would increase, particularly in 15 sub-Saharan states. From an investor country perspective, the analysis reveals that countries often suspected of using LSLA to relieve pressure on their domestic water resources—such as China, India, and all Gulf States except Saudi Arabia—invest in agricultural activities abroad that are less water-intensive compared to their average domestic crop production. Conversely, large investor countries such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Japan are disproportionately externalizing crop water consumption through their international land investments. Statistical analyses also show that host countries with abundant water resources are not per se favoured targets of LSLA. Indeed, further analysis reveals that land investments originating in water-stressed countries have only a weak tendency to target areas with a smaller water risk.

Jesup-Wayne County Airport land acquisition and runway improvements : environmental impact statement.

F only available in microfiche.

Federal land management : land acquisition issues related to the Baca Ranch appraisal : report to Congressional committees /

"B-284411"--P. 3.

Salt Creek flood prone land acquisition, DuPage County.

Kept up to date by addendum.

Memorandum discussing agencies in the federal government engaged in land acquisition, land administration and land planning /

Mimeographed.

Securing Tenure for Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case of Women Land Ownership in Anglophone Cameroon

The majority of women in Third World countries depend on land for their livelihood. Security of tenure is important for them to ensure sustainable development, especially in rural areas. In most parts of Africa, land ownership is affected by traditional values, inheritance rights, and government influence. These forces have provided varying types of tenure which are detrimental to the women in rural and urban areas. Land acquisition and its development has been an emotive issue due to traditional pressures and the law as regards the process of land certification. The government and traditional administrations are highly involved in the way women own land and subsequently develop it in Anglophone Cameroon. State authority over land acquisition is important, but the process for obtaining land title is herculean especially for the rural woman. This study illustrates that land acquisition and development by women constitute a problem because of traditional pressures and the law guiding the process of land certification. There is need to exhume the barriers of government’s legal instrument (The Land Consultative Board) that regulates the ownership of land and to revisit some traditional practices as regards land ownership that impact negatively on women in a changing and globalizing world. A compromise approach is advocated for land acquisition that can transcend traditional barriers as well as render the process of land registration more realistic especially for women.

Political Economy of Global Rush for Agricultural Land: a Tract on India’s Overseas Acquisitions

This paper is an attempt to map the global land acquisitions with a focus on Indian MNCs in acquiring overseas land for agricultural purposes. It tries to outline the contemporary political economy of capital accumulation at the global level, especially, in the emerging developing economies like India and China, where the emergence of a new capitalist class has engaged itself into acquisition of land and control of other natural resources in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia, for example, water and other minerals to secure itself from the eventual losses of ongoing economic crisis and to earn profit from the volatile agricultural commodity markets. This sway of control of resources by the MNCs has got paramount State support under the helm of neoliberal policies. The paper provides scale of overseas land acquisitions at the current juncture and tries to highlight its causes and the major implications associated with it.