Banken konkluderer i en ny rapport, at investeringer i jord i udviklingslande kan være gavnlige, men advarer samtidig om faren for krænkelser af økonomiske og sociale rettigheder samt miljømæssig belastning.
Det skriver Deutsche Bank i rapporten “Foreign Investment in Farmland – No Low-hanging fruits”, der blev offentliggjort tirsdag. Rapporten beskæftiger sig både med sociale og klima/miljømæssige konsekvenser af globale opkøb af jord i udviklingslande.
There is a global rush for land. Since 2000, recorded agricultural transactions involving foreign investors amount to 83 million hectares of land in developing countries – 1.7% of the world’s agricultural area – although only half of these data are considered reliable.
Most of the targeted countries are poor with weak land governance, have high yield gaps and good accessibility. Two-thirds of the targeted farmland is located in Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Investors originate increasingly from emerging countries, especially China, India, Brazil and Malaysia. Globally, the investors are both private actors – especially from America and Europe – and public or state-owned companies – especially from the Gulf States.
Investment in farmland is driven by long-term trends such as growing consumption of food and biofuels in a context of limited availability of arable land, water and energy: investors are interested in securing access to food or other agricultural products, access to water and financial returns in an alternative asset class.
Both food and non-food crops (e.g. biofuel crops, rubber) are of interest. The agricultural production on acquired land is largely for export.
Significant risks are associated with investing in farmland.
The main challenges are to respect the economic and social rights of local populations, to preserve environmental sustainability and to avoid one-sided agricultural development. Investors often compete for land with local farming communities.
Investments in farmland can also be a “win-win-win” strategy if the risks are mitigated, particularly through project transparency and long-term engagement with the local population.
Besides the gains for investors and home countries, investments in farmland can yield benefits for local communities, the host country at large and lead to increased global agricultural production. Financial investors have an important role to play in maximizing these benefits.
The way forward includes improved governance, especially security of land tenure.
Guidelines ensuring responsible investments in land conducive to broad-based development have been produced but an effective mechanism to enforce them is still missing. Documenting foreign investment is also key, both for transparency and better understanding of the phenomenon.
There is a strong case for private investment in agriculture. Investments required in developing countries to support the agricultural output needed in 2050 amount to an average of USD 83 billion per year, which represents an increase of about 50% over current levels.
There is increasing evidence that collaborative business models between small farmers and investors (for instance contract farming) can be mutually beneficial, boosting agricultural productivity while reducing poverty and hunger, without necessitating transfer of land.
Download rapporten her: http://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000296807/Foreign+investment+in+farmland%3A+No+low-hanging+fruit.pdf;jsessionid=782C00B5FEA9365E9FC67DE08591074A.srv-net-dbr-com
