Land grab in the correct perspective

Here's the best article I have read so far on global land grab, not least because it focuses on the process of grabbing and associated capital investments and industrialization of large scale farming rather than on the nationality of the "grabbers". Franco and Borras deconstruct the code of conduct for large scale international investments in agriculture recommended by international organizations such as the World Bank and IFPRI, and analyze it on the basis of its contribution to social justice. They look at land grabbing as part of the latest market and profit-driven move towards the intensification of transnational investments in agriculture by large capital originating from states or corporations. Unlike most other mediatized and shallow analyses of land grab, this paper does not mention the word "Arab" once.

http://www.tni.org/paper/threat-opportunity-problems-“code-conduct”-land-grabbing

From Threat to Opportunity? Problems with a “Code of Conduct” for Land-Grabbing

Jennifer Franco 

Jun Borras

Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal

April 2010

The dominant perception of land-grabbing as a threat is being replaced by a new story line, promoted by, amongst other, the World Bank—that of new land deals as a potential opportunity for rural development. But this supposed win-win formula raises many problems, doubts and concerns.

Download the paper - From Threat to Opportunity) (165 KB)