Land grab affects pastoralists first

"But seemingly unoccupied land is probably used for at least part of the year by someone, says Michael Taylor of the International Land Coalition (ILC), which groups 65 agencies, from local farm groups to the World Bank, concerned with land access. Nomadic herders, rarely a priority for governments, are being dispossessed by bioethanol developments in Kenya, he says, and they also depend on the "unused" land that Madagascar offered Daewoo. Ethiopia's communal lands, such as grazing areas, are being leased to private investors, says anthropologist Marco Bassi of the University of Oxford. "This will destroy shifting cultivators and pastoralists."" (Thanks Karin)