Rebuilding capacity for policy analysis and pro-poor policy making in Africa
Matondi, Prosper B. & Mandivamba Rukuni
The acquisition of large land areas for the production of agricultural commodities, forest, mining and provision of environmental amenities by large investors has recently attracted considerable interest. The phenomenon has been described as land grabbingg when large-scale acquisitions of land in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and South East Asia have been undertaken as forms of investment in land- related developments by, both international and domestic investors (Cotula, et al., 2009; FAO, IFAD, UNCTD and the World Bank Group, 2010). Various terminologies have been thrown around in the media on the phenomenon of land outsourcing in Africa. Terms such as commercializationn, colonizationn, new imperialismm, land grabbingg, agro-investmentss, new land invasionss have been used. Large-scale land acquisitions can be broadly defined as acquisitions (whether purchases, leases or other) of land areas over 1,000 ha (Cotula, et al, 2009). The land acquisition include not only purchase of ownership rights, but also the acquisition of use rights, for instance through leases or concessions, whether short or long-term. Cotula et al, (2009), then characterized the land deals in their basic form as deals that involve at least two parties, On the one hand, there is an acquirer. In the African context, this is generally a private or joint equity company, but it can also be a foreign government acquiring land directly. On the other side of the deal is a land provider, either a government or, much more rarely, a private land-owner.
Event: Annual Bank Conference on Land Policy and Administration
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