The current trend is for rich nations to purchase the natural resources of developing countries that, in turn, should not be selling those lands lest their domestic economy and food security be adversely affected. This landgrabbing trend has seen some staggering deals. The extent of the new trend in colonialism across the word is vast. ‘The buyers are wealthy countries that are unable to grow their own food.’

New colonialism a.k.a. ‘landgrabbing’ also causes considerable political and social upheaval in affected countries, as was seen with the case of Madagascar when citizens reacted to the government of Marc Ravalomanana’s signed deal with a giant Korean multinational Daewoo for the lease of 1.3 million hectares of farmland for 99 years. The land comes up to about half of all arable land on Madagascar. The leasing foreign company Daewoo will grow maize and palm oil and send all the harvests back to South Korea. The decision by the government angered the urban poor, especially that price of wheat and rice had earlier skyrocketed. ‘

The government of President Ravalomanana became the first in the world to be toppled because of what the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization recently described as “landgrabbing”.’

The case of Daewoo in Madagascar is only ‘one of more than 100 land deals which have, over the past 12 months, seen massive tracts of cultivable farmland across the globe bought up by wealthy countries and international corporations.’ Production of food is not the only reason and motivation of neocolonialists. ‘About a fifth of the massive new deals are for land on which to grow biofuels.’

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Via The Independent