Africa taken for a ride – again

As Mozambique’s capital of Maputo and the city of Matola are experiencing violent riots because of rocketing prices of food and other key consumer goods, a report released in late August by Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE) warns that Africa is at risk of its agricultural land being grabbed by developed and other countries “with minimal benefit for local communities and national economies”.

The report, under the heading Africa: up for grabs, especially expresses concern that this land grab is, among others, fueled by the European Union’s mandatory target of 10% of road transport fuel from “renewable sources” by 2020. This is expected to be largely met by agrofuels, which is creating a guaranteed market for producers.

However, the food security of richer developed and strong developing countries is also playing an important role in this process.

South African connection

Among the estimated 20 million hectares of agricultural land in Africa sold to foreign interests since 2006 according to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute, the FOEE counts the 10 million hectares of fertile land President Sassou-Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville ceded to South African farmers. This land, according to the report, is to be  used “to grow staple food crops for export without any percentage to remain in Congo”.

“Just as African countries have seen fossil fuels and other natural resources exploited for the benefit of richer countries, there is a risk that agrofuels, and with them Africa’s agricultural land and natural resources will be exported abroad with minimal benefit for local communities and national economies,” the report warns.

The report points out that some 60% of the population in Africa relies on farming for survival. “But as the world wakes up to what has been described as the perfect storm of climate change, falling oil reserves and rising demand, land use has become ever more controversial.”

Not the first warnings

Two years ago the United Nations Food Agency also called for a review of biofuel subsidies and policies, noting that they had contributed significantly to rising food prices and the hunger in poor countries.

In a report released at the time it stated that policies should be “urgently reviewed in order to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability.”

The report came in the midst of sharply rising prices which led to a food crisis. Not only were there food riots in some developing countries, but in Haiti and Madagascar governments were overthrown. Crops being used for agrofuels was a major factor in the rising food prices.

According to the FOEE report, studies suggest that a third of the land sold or acquired in Africa – some on long leases of up to 90 years –  is intended for fuel crops. Fifteen African nations also joined forces to set up what has been described as a Green OPEC and a number of national governments have also introduced domestic targets and strategies for agrofuel at home.

Environmental damage

There already have been protests following the securing of land by foreign companies – although it is often also the sovereign funds of other nations that are involved. Companies have been accused of providing misleading information to local farmers, of obtaining land from fraudulent community land-owners and of bypassing environmental protection laws.

“When losing their access to traditional land, local communities face growing food insecurity and hunger – their human right to food is threatened,” the FOEE-report states.

It also points out that pressure on farmland has led to forests being cleared to make way for agrofuel plantations, destroying valuable natural resources and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

In Ethiopia, land inside an elephant sanctuary was cleared to make way for agrofuels.

“Farmers have found that the much-vaunted wonder crop jatropha, rather than bringing a guaranteed income, in fact takes valuable water resources and needs expensive pesticides. In some cases, food crops have been cleared to plant jatropha, leaving farmers with no income and no source of food,” the report states.

Investment

“The agricultural sector in Africa has caught the eyes of wealthy global investors. There are about 45 new private equity funds that are planning to invest an estimated $2 billion in the sector across the continent in the next five years,” reported Business Report on September 1 this year.

The report quoted Angela Hansen, an associate partner at Dalberg Global Development, a strategic advisory firm, speaking at an Africa Investor Agribusiness Project Summit in Durban, saying that Africa has the largest area of untapped and underdeveloped land. “There is specifically a huge amount of arable land in Africa and the world is scrambling to increase production,” she said.

Paul Runge, MD of Africa Project Access, said at the same occasion that the number of investment projects in the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa is at “unprecedented” levels. “I have never seen a project flow as we have now,” he said.

At the same time the FOEE report states: “This competition for agricultural land raises fundamental questions about food sovereignty and government priorities, Should a country that is dependent on food aid (such as Kenya or Ethiopia) be selling fertile land to developers to grow fuel?”