The race for land - a nightmare for the poor

Stockholm, December 5th 2012

The race for land - a nightmare for the poor

Land grabbing in poor countries has increased dramatically in recent years, says the new report "The race for land" that Forum Syd, Africa Groups and Swedish Cooperative Centre present today. Large-scale land investments cover more than 80 million hectares worldwide. In Cambodia, more than

400 000 people have been affected in the wave of land investments that is sweeping the country.

The report "The race for land" shows that these investments, which are often for an export production rather than food production for the domestic market, are not contributing to feeding a growing world population. Instead, poor farmers have lost their land and their livelihoods. Food security is threatened when private companies lease the most fertile land for large-scale cultivations of export crops, feed and biofuels.

In Cambodia, small-scale farmers have been displaced from their land in favor of large-scale sugar plantations where the sugar is exported to the EU. The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia has warned that there are serious and widespread violations of human rights associated with land investments.

- Sugar has become a lucrative export product through the EU’s special preferences of duty-free market access for the world’s poorest countries, the Everything But Arms initiative (EBA). The EU must now take responsibility and investigate violations of human rights in Cambodia in connection with large-scale investments in sugar plantations, says Eang Vuthy, Director of the organization Equitable Cambodia.

Africa is the worst affected continent. Almost half of the global land investments are in African countries, where in many cases there is a food shortage. Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries. Here, foreign companies have leased land of more than one million hectares, mainly for forestry but also for biofuels and sugar.

- What could become part of a solution has become a nightmare. The large-scale investments lead to land grabbing and that local people are pushed away from their land. The investments have a negative impact on food security as well as on the environment, says António Reina, Director of the organization Livaningo in Mozambique.

The report "The race for land" is being launched in Stockholm today Wednesday, December 5th at a lunch seminar.

For inquiries and bookings of interviews, please contact Karin Gregow, karin.gregow @ forumsyd.org, tel: 08-50637162

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Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF)

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Phnom Penh.

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Website: www.hrtfcambodia.org