June 2016:In a newly published dataset, GRAIN documents nearly 500 cases of land grabbing around the world: "The cases span 78 countries, around US$ 94 billion in farmland investments and over 30 million hectares (an area roughly the size of Finland). Some of the most egregious "mega-deals", which appeared in the investment frenzy following the 2008 food and financial crisis, have since reduced their ambitions or collapsed altogether. These failed deals are not necessarily cause for celebration regarding the global land grab phenomenon, however, since the remaining deals tend to embody "hard-core initiatives to expand the frontiers of industrial agriculture". These deals intensify conflict, as land rights activists are imprisoned; journalists harassed; and peasant and indigenous leaders routinely murdered."
"If there is cause for optimism, it is in the tremendous surge in global resistance, local mobilisation and international solidarity around land grabbing. Farmers, workers, migrant groups, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and others are converging to address the problem on multiple fronts, while developing creative new resistance strategies."
Quelle:New from GRAIN, 14. Juni 2016 (Report and dataset)