Foreign Investor ‘Land Grabs’ Harm Poor Farmers, Oxfam Says
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Foreign-investor purchases of farmland in poorer nations are displacing local populations and adding little to a country’s wealth, even as agricultural prices increase, according to Oxfam International.
As many as 227 million hectares (561 million acres) -- an area one and a half times the size of Alaska -- have been sold or leased since 2001, with most of the “land grabs” occurring in the past two years, Oxfam said in a report released today. With the consent of governments, weak legal codes allow the purchase of large tracts with no regard for residents or the environment, said Oxfam, which is based in Oxford, U.K.