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Unintended Consequences: The Ecological Repercussions of Land Grabbing in Sub-Saharan Africa

2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 57; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00139157.2015.1001687

1939-9154

Mulubrhan Balehegn,

Land Rights and Reforms

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size NOTESNotes1. A. Zoomers, “Globalization and the Foreignisation of Space: Seven Processes Driving the Current Global Land Grab,” Journal of Peasant Studies 37 (2010): 429–47.2. W. Anseeuw et al., “Transnational Land Deals for Agriculture in the Global South: Analytical Report Based on the Land Matrix Database,” The Land Matrix Partnership, 2012, http://landportal.info/landmatrix/media/img/analyticalreport.pdf.3. E. Hall, et al. “Pressures on Land in Sub-Saharan Africa: Social Differentiation and Societal Responses,” 2012. Background paper for European report on development.4. “Ethanol Myths and Facts; Department of Energy Biomass Program” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Energy, 2008), 3.5. K. Deininger et al., “The Rise of Large Farms in Land Abundant Countries: Do They Have a Future?,” World Development 40, no. 4 (2012): 701.6. S. Borras et al., “Towards a Broader View of the Politics of Global Land Grab: Rethinking Land Issues, Reframing Resistance,” Initiatives in Critical Agrarian Studies, Working Paper Series 1 (2010). S. Daniel, “Land Grabbing and Potential Implications for World Food Security,” in M. Behnassi, S. A. Shahid and J. D'Silva, eds., Sustainable Agricultural Development (Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Springer, 2011), 25–42. A. Spieldoch et al., “Agricultural Land Acquisitions: Implications for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation,” in M. Kugelman and S. L. Levenstein, eds., Land Grab? The Race for the World's Farmland (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2009), 39–53.7. N. Herger et al., “Cross-Border Acquisitions in the Global Food Sector,” European Review of Agricultural Economics 35, no. 4 (2008): 563–87. “Creating Markets for Green Biofuels: Measuring and Improving Environmental Performance” (2007), 1–628. K. Deininger, “Challenges Posed by the New Wave of Farmland Investment,” Journal of Peasant Studies 38, no. 2 (2011): 217–47.9. K. Havnevik et al., “Biofuel, Land and Environmental Issues: The Case of Sekab's Biofuel Plans in Tanzania,” in B. Matondi, K. Havnevik, and A. Beyene, eds., Biofuels, Land Grabbing and Food Security in Africa (London, UK: CAB Direct Publishers, 2011), 106–33. S. M. Borras et al., “Towards a Better Understanding of Global Land Grabbing: An Editorial Introduction,” Journal of Peasant Studies 38, no. 2 (2011): 209–16. E. D. Lazarus, “Land Grabbing as a Driver of Environmental Change,” Area 46, no. 1 (2014): 74–82.10. C. E. Ridley et al., “Biofuels: Network Analysis of the Literature Reveals Key Environmental and Economic Unknowns,” Environmental Science & Technology 46, no. 3 (2012): 1309–15.11. S. J. 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Ewing, “Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet's Most Precious Resource, by Tony Allen,” Water International 36, no. 7 (2011): 948–50.37. “A Thirst for Distant Lands: Foreign Investment in Agricultural Water” (Winnipeg, Canada: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009).38. Hall, note 4.39. L. Cotula et al., Land Grab or Development Opportunity?: Agricultural Investment and International Land Deals in Africa (London: IIED, 2009).40. Horne et al., note 32. Cotula et al., note 39.41. O. De Schutter, “How Not to Think of Land-Grabbing: Three Critiques of Large-Scale Investments in Farmland,” Journal of Peasant Studies 38, no. 2 (2011): 249–79.42. Hall, note 3. M. A. Hanjra et al., “Global Water Crisis and Future Food Security in an Era of Climate Change,” Food Policy 35, no. 5 (2010): 365–77.43. S. Arduino et al. “Contamination of Community Potable Water from Land Grabbing: A Case Study from Rural Tanzania” [In English], Water Alternatives 5, no. 2 (2012): 344–59.44. “The Anatomy of Large-Scale Farmland Acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa” (Jakarta, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research [CIFOR], 2011), 21.45. K. Senelwa et al., “Environmental Impacts of Biofuel Production in Africa,” in R. Janssen and D. Rutz, eds., Bioenergy for Sustainable Development in Africa (Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Springer, 2012), 237–45.46. L. Hein et al., “The Impact of First-Generation Biofuels on the Depletion of the Global Phosphorus Reserve” [in English], AMBIO 41, no. 4 (2012): 341–49.47. “The Impact of Ethanol and Ethanol Subsidies on Corn Prices: Revisiting History,” CARD Policy Briefs, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (Ames, IA: Iowa State University, 2011).48. D. S. 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Also, answering a question by an Aljazeera TV journalist about recent land grabbing in his country that is displacing indigenous people from their ancestral land (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/2012125145129652231.html), Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn answered that no one is displaced from their land as the land being leased is savannah (sic).65. L. Cotula et al., ‘Land Grabs’ in Africa: Can the Deals Work for Development” (London: International Institute for Environment and Development, 2009).66. C. Makunike, “Large-Scale Agricultural Investment in Africa: Points to Ponder,” In M. Kugelman and S. Levenstein, eds., Land Grab? The Race for the World's Farmland (Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2009), 85–94.67. NáJera et al., note 16.68. C. J. Clark et al., “Logging Concessions Can Extend the Conservation Estate for Central African Tropical Forests,” Conservation Biology 23, no. 5 (2009): 1281–93.69. Hall, note 3. D. 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Meinzen-Dick et al., “Necessary Nua Nce: Toward a Code of Conduct in Foreign Land Deals,” in M. Kugelman and S. L. Levenstein, eds., Land Grab ? The Race for the World's Farmland (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2009), 69–84. N. E. Hultman et al., “Biofuels Investments in Tanzania: Policy Options for Sustainable Business Models,” Journal of Environment & Development 21, no. 3 (2012): 339–61. Also, one such regulation is the EU biofuel directive, which states that biofuels consumed in the EU have to comply with 35% GHG savings in 2009 and rising over time to 50% in 2017. This EU directive also puts restrictions on the types of land that may be converted to production of biofuels feedstock crops.86. Meimzen-Dick et al., note 85. “'Land Grabbing' by Foreign Investors in Developing Countries: Risks and Opportunities, IFPRI Policy Brief” (Washington, D.C.: IFPRI, 2009). Also, For instance, Kartha (note 16) recommended a long list of questions be asked before embarking in any form of land deal: These questions include: Why is land currently not under intensive cultivation? What are the production constraints? How realistic is it that the injection of capital and knowledge that the investors have to offer will spark sustainable production increases? Will there be land degradation over time, as when most tropical forests are cut for cultivation? If irrigation is brought in, does that take water away from local communities? Is the irrigation likely to be sustainable, or will it lead to salinization over the long term? Will farming practices reduce biodiversity?87. The Seventh Principle of the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI), proposed by the World Bank, FAO, UNCTAD, and IFAD, indicates that environmental impacts due to a project are quantified and measures taken to encourage sustainable resource use while minimizing the risk/magnitude of negative impacts and mitigating them. Regulation at the level (i.e., either local, national, or global) where externalities arise will be desirable to ensure that such goods, which may include local access to forest products, water, or soil quality, are not jeopardized. This will need to include impacts on natural resources that may be located far from the project site, such as river basin impacts or social dislocation resulting from the project causing deforestation elsewhere. Capacity to monitor will be particularly important due to the fact that such effects will materialize only in the course of project implementation and investors may renege on previous agreements.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMulubrhan BalehegnMulubrhan Balehegn is an assistant professor at the Department of Animal, Rangeland and Wildlife Sciences at Mekelle University, Ethiopia. His research interests include social and environmental sustainability among small holder pastoral and agrarian communities in sub-Saharan Africa.