Large-scale acquisition of land rights for agricultural or natural resource-based use

in
Activity Type: 
Activities Related to Cross-Sectoral Cooperation

CHALLENGE

Acquisition of use or ownership rights to large areas of land for production of agricultural commodities, forest, or provision of environmental amenities by large investors has recently attracted considerable interest. And, given the volatile global commodity prices, demand for bio-fuels, and urbanization this trend  could be of continued importance in the future.

However, evidence from the award of ‘economic concessions’ in land abundant countries suggest that such land transactions on a large scale carry considerable risks. Cases where large-scale agricultural investment has undermined good governance, contributed to social tensions, and resulted in long-term shifts in countries’ agrarian and power structure that were not conducive to broad-based economic growth and poverty reduction and were difficult to reverse later on are well documented. Some of these cases have also had irreversible negative environmental impacts, including clear cutting of pristine forests as displaced households and commercial operations relocate their activities.
At the same time, there is no doubt that, as long as existing property rights are respected and social and environmental safeguards applied, foreign investment in the agricultural sector of relatively land-abundant countries can provide significant benefits to all involved and should therefore be welcomed.
APPROACH
To provide guidance to countries trying to deal with this issue, the World Bank (in partnership with FAO and IIED and with PROFOR funding) the research will :
  • provide a descriptive overview, for 30 countries, of land endowment, distribution, and use as well as general governance and doing business indicators; (ii) extent of planned large scale land acquisition by type of product and market, nature of investor, capital and employment intensity, status of implementation, and availability of more detailed reports; and (iii) the policy and legal context in which the investments are taking place.
  • produce a comparative report based on the overviews including cross-country comparison of the policy framework governing such investment
  • and in a second phase provide more in-depth analysis of the contractual arrangements related to land acquisition as well as the economic, financial, social and environmental impacts for a sample of relevant projects.

RESULTS

This activity is ongoing. Results will be shared on this page when they become available. You can also follow us on twitter (www.twitter.com/forestideas) or subscribe to our mailing list for regular updates.

Last updated 07/19/2010