Hedge funds 'grabbing land' in Africa, "A much bigger threat than terrorism"

Hedge funds are behind "land grabs" in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, a US think-tank says.

In a report, the Oakland Institute said hedge funds and other foreign firms had acquired large swathes of African land, often without proper contracts.

It said the acquisitions had displaced millions of small farmers.

Foreign firms farm the land to consolidate their hold over global food markets, the report said.

They also use land to "make room" for export commodities such as biofuels and cut flowers.

"This is creating insecurity in the global food system that could be a much bigger threat than terrorism," the report said.

The Oakland Institute said it released its findings after studying land deals in Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Mali and Mozambique.

"The same financial firms that drove us into a global recession by inflating the real estate bubble through risky financial manoeuvres are now doing the same with the world's food supply," the report said.

Well this will hardly be surprising news to many on here as it just confirms that many of these companys will trample on anything or anyone to increase their wealth.

Here is a link to the story on the BBC www.bbc.co.uk...

They have been doing this for years, I guess the hedge fund managers decided it was time to join the party.

What do you expect? A land ravaged by poverty and disease is cheap to buy and then turned into posh resorts for rich people to embark on weekend getaways and hunting safaris! Easy profit.

reply to post by sheepslayer247


We could stop them from exploiting these nations by only eating local produce, therefore forcing them to sell the goods to africans but i suppose like you said, they may just build resorts for the rich.

They have also been renting outland in Europe and farming it. Old news, they cant keep pumping the price of living up, eventually their will be the straw that breaks the camels back.

reply to post by lewman

We could only buy locally, but they own that too!

There will have to be a drastic catalyst before this changes.

Neo Colonialism the difference this time is its the corporations doing it instead of nations. But id wager the end result will be the same.....not good for the natives.