From Food First's online newsletter:

Land Leasing—Threat to National Sovereignty?
by Annie Shattuck

A country's sovereignty can be jeopardized by a number of threats, from war to unfair trade policies. However, a new means of one country securing dominion over another has come into being as several relatively affluent countries with little arable land – feeling uneasy about their future food security in light of the recent volatility of food staple prices – have begun purchasing 99 year leases in Africa and Asia. The Financial Times reported that South Korean conglomerate Daewoo has leased 1.3 million hectares from Madagascar under an undisclosed agreement to satiate its growing demand for maize and palm oil. The area purchased represents half of Madagascar's arable land, a frightening prospect for the poor of Madagascar considering that 65% of the population faces chronic food insecurity even during productive harvests. Moreover, the land will not be worked on or managed by the residents of Madagascar, as Daewoo plans to import South African labor. Such policies could severely undercut the food security and welfare of the people of Madagascar.

Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also expressed interest in effectively buying agricultural real estate in developing countries. Saudi Arabia's Secretary of Agriculture, Arthur Yap, is set to meet with Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign a memorandum of cooperation. In 2007, the Philippines signed a similar document with China calling for the development of 1.2 million hectares of land to produce hybrid maize, rice, and sorghum. Reportedly, large companies from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have also been interested in leasing agricultural land, while Angola and Ethiopia have stated they would be open to negotiating the lease of portions of their counties. Such a vast market for agricultural land raises questions of political sovereignty and food security for many developing nations, and could potentially increase the gap between richer and poorer countries. Director-general of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, had this to say on the matter: “the risk is of creating a neo-colonial pact for the provision of non-value-added raw materials in the producing countries and unacceptable work conditions for agricultural worker.” Clearly, the recent changes in the landscape of global food politics show how old colonial strains have reentered the international real estate market under the innovative application of land purchasing mechanisms.

Blas, Javier. “Land leased to secure crops for South Korea.” Financial Times. 18 Nov 2008

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/22ccaa98-b5d9-11dd-ab71-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

Conde, Carlos. “Philippines Suspends Chinese-funded projects in wake of scandal.” International Herald Tribune. 25 Sept 2007. < http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/25/business/peso.php>

World Food Programme. “Where We Work – Madagascar.” World Food Programme. 2008. http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=450

Daewoo unsure of food project in Madagascar

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8a25a24e-c26d-11dd-a350-000077b07658.html