A trend in recent years of international investors snapping up land in developing countries for agriculture has captured the attention of academics, policymakers, media and civil society groups. Their interpretations of the possible implications vary, due as much to ideology as to evidence. Defenders emphasise that foreign investments contribute towards overcoming technological constraints, fostering agricultural modernisation and linking local economies with global markets. Critics highlight concerns about equitable access to food, protection of local tenure rights and enhanced benefit-sharing from land development. For their part, environmentalists...
