Corporations Buying Land In Africa
It is important to note that foreign entities are not the only ones aggressively buying up U.S. farmland. Many large corporations, pension funds, and wealthy individuals are investing in agricultural land in the United States and abroad. Advocacy groups like the National Family Farm Coalition argue that the larger threat to national security is corporate capture of U.S. land resources, whether those corporations are U.S.- or foreign-owned. The NYFC also points to both urban and rural development as a threat to the future of U.S. farms, since converting farmland to other uses drives up prices and makes the land unaffordable for beginning farmers. Along similar lines, climate-related efforts to increase biofuel production and expand afforestation and reforestation could reduce the amount of land available for food production in the future.
corporations buying land in africa
For obvious reasons, there isn't much out there about who's buying what and how much in Africa. But what OI has discovered is a small number of investors paying sometimes nothing for large plots of land in some African countries.
Chinese companies are buying up land in Asia and Africa. The combined area of land purchased or leased by such companies over the past decade is equal to the total land area of Sri Lanka or Lithuania and much larger than acquisitions by their counterparts in the U.S. and other major countries.
Huge tracts of land, under-exploited due to poor agricultural policy or decades of neglect, was made available. Foreign state aid donors emphasised the need to attract foreign investment. Land laws were modernised to make buying, selling and leasing land easier in many countries. And in many cases, institutional weaknesses or outright corruption eased through deals.
The National Family Farm Coalition and other advocacy groups argue that the bigger threat to U.S. food security is the purchase of land by corporations, whether U.S. or foreign-owned, the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes.
Rep. Johnson is among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who support the PASS Act, which would create a federal ban on China, Iran, North Korea or Russia buying U.S. agricultural land or processing facilities.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the Senate panel, has hosted a series of listening sessions on housing and corporate landlords in recent years. In 2020, he called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country's government-funded largest housing financier. In a letter to CEO Hugh Frater, Brown expressed concerns about giant private equity firms buying up affordable housing buildings in large amounts to make profits.
Sometimes the purchasing process involves more than red tape. Certain countries may explicitly forbid or severely restrict the buying of property by foreign nationals. For example, foreigners cannot own land in Thailand. The only way to do so requires you to create a corporation that is majority-owned by Thai nationals.
The right of buying land or buying a property in Italy is available for most of the categories of foreigners, which are divided based on the nationality. Italy does not impose restrictions on owning a property as a foreigner, but the manner in which one can purchase properties here can vary based on the nationality of the foreigner.
As a result of the current credit crunch and prevailing climate conditions, some business and investment analysts are pointing out how large companies are currently heavily investing in farmland in various areas across the world. The idea is that in the future world, food security will become a major concern. Investing in farmland now could secure food supplies to those nations and corporations that invest in farmlands.
Deuche Bank and Goldman Sachs and investment firm Blackrock have invested heavily in China's livestock and land industries respectively. Rich and powerful individuals such as George Soros and Lord Jacob Rothschild are also getting into the global land buying business. Rothschild invests through a company known as Agfirma Brazil. Other countries where farmland is being sold on a large scale are Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, The Philippines, Southern Russia and Ukraine.
In Africa a new business venture seems to be the acquisition of farmland to be sometimes converted into biofuels plantations. The FAO claims that since 2004, 2.5 million hectares of land has been taken up (what has been termed by some as "land grabs") in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya and Sudan. US company Jarch Capital is doing big business in Sudan, buying up hundreds of thousands of hectares of arable land. Often it is the big bidders with the greatest purchasing and lobbying powers that win these lands. There are indications that one of the reasons why former president of Madagascar (Marc Ravalomanana) was booted out of office is because he signed a massive deal with Korean company Daewoo that would have given away 1.3 million hectares of prime Madagascan arable (farm) lands to the Korean company in order to grow food for Koreans. The local people revolted and Andry Rajoelina took advantage of these (and perhaps other) sentiments and help from the country's military, all of which led to the ousting of Ravalomanana.
Depending on the enabling legislation that is in place, there are a few different options for structuring a land bank. Land banks can be governmental entities, quasi-governmental public corporations, or private non-profit corporations. A land bank can share staff with redevelopment authorities or housing departments, or be formed as an independent organization governed by a Board of Directors or Commission. Participation from public representatives, city staff, residents, and other interested stakeholders may include representation on the Board or advisory council. The governance characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of different structures of land banks are presented in the table below:
Disadvantage: There may be accountability concerns since public meetings and records disclosure required for governmental entities do not apply to private corporations. As with an independent public corporation, there may be misalignment between the land bank and municipality strategies.
The Fulton County/City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority (LBA) was authorized by state statute in 1990 and has been effective in returning land to productive use and getting properties back onto the tax rolls. The LBA is able to waive delinquent taxes, clear title issues on acquired properties, and facilitate the purchase of properties by community development corporations. The City of Atlanta commits a significant portion of its CDBG funds towards housing revitalization activities, including funding for the LBA. As of 2020, the LBA listed 170 properties in its inventory within the City of Atlanta. 041b061a72