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Article: U.N. probes rich states' African land grab.
- Article from:
- UPI Energy Resources
- Article date:
- November 12, 2009
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Fifty heads of state will meet in Rome Sunday to examine the way that rich Middle Eastern and Asian states are buying up vast tracts of farmland in Africa, often secretly, in what is seen as a massive land grab that will worsen conditions in the world's hungriest continent.
All told, some 50 million acres of arable land across Africa have been gobbled up by foreign governments or investors in the last two years, usually to the detriment of African smallholders who are being squeezed out. Other land is being acquired in South America and Southeast Asia.
In the worst cases it's fair to say we're looking at neo-colonialism, said David Hallam, deputy ...