World Bank Backs Investment In Global Farmland
The World Bank has backed the practice of countries selling large tracts of agricultural land to overseas investors, but is urging host countries to demand much more from investors to increase farming productivity and peoples’ livelihoods.
In a long-awaited report on the so-called “global farmland grab”, the multilateral donor organisation warns about the risk of the deals, particularly the “limited recognition of local rights” and “highly centralized approval processes”.
The World Bank is proposing a seven-principle code of conduct for investors and host countries, including respecting local land rights, ensuring food security, ensuring transparency and good governance, consultations with those involved, responsible agro-investing, social sustainability and environmental sustainability.
Large-scale purchases raise “a real concern about the ability of local institutions to protect vulnerable groups from losing land on which they have legitimate, if not formally recognized claims”, according to the report by the Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development department.
“The veil of secrecy (hemmelighedskræmmeri) that often surrounds these land deals must be lifted so poor people do not ultimately pay the heavy price of losing their land”, World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance and foreign minister, said in a statement.
The acquisitions (opkøbene) “can come at a high cost”, she noted.
The World Bank said countries need to establish new foreign-investment criteria that better recognize land rights, and governments should play a stronger role in developing land-acquisition policies. There is also a need for greater public disclosure on land deals, allowing broader access to information for watchdog organizations.
Bank officials said the organization is working with governments to put its recommended principles into practice. It is also urging development of an international agreement such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to encourage greater accountability in foreign agriculture investments.
Under the EITI, companies and countries provide information on mining and petroleum deals as part of an effort to combat fraud (misbrug/svin-del).
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