World Grain - June 2009 - 31

FEATURE: FOREIGN CROPLAND DEALS

by the media and international organizations is taking place
about this new phenomenon in the global food supply chain.
There are frequent cries of neo-colonialism and news headlines mentioning "foreign land grabs" or "Petro dollars versus
Small-holders." Some bloggers note incipient similarities to
the European carve up of the African continent in the 19th
century. The thought of countries so associated with malnutrition, drought and famine shipping basic food commodities
from giant farms to the wealthy nations who own the farms
seems unpalatable to many people at first glance.
But many development experts point out that an inflow of
investment and technology is exactly what these countries
need to raise agricultural productivity, increase exports and
create jobs for the rural poor. Underutilized fertile land is one
of the few competitive advantages that such countries possess
in the global arena. Oftentimes the international investors are
expected to put money not just into farms, but also into transportation infrastructure, storage, port facilities and even into
local schools and health facilities.

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JAPAN VERSUS CHINA
Japan's investment in agricultural operations in other
countries, supported by government funds, reflects the arguments favoring the practice. Japan is the world's largest
food importer, sourcing 80% of its consumption from other
countries. So Japan is the one country for which food security may have the greatest significance. Yet its agricultural
investments, mainly in Southeast Asia, are relatively modest
and not intended to produce food for export to Japan. Rather,
the goal is to introduce technology that will stimulate greater
crop yields, with the hope that the ability of the world to
feed itself does not again come into question, as happened
in 2007-08.
In response to the controversy, the Chinese government
has announced that it has no policy of acquiring land overseas to enhance food security. And in reality, there is little
need since China is self-sufficient in all staple foods except
soybeans, of which it imports 38 million tonnes per year,
the single largest inflow of an agricultural commodity to any
country. This amount is so great that there is no conceivable land acquisition strategy that could make a difference in
China's dependence on international soybean markets.
Official pronouncements notwithstanding, China's stateowned and private companies may be playing the game of
overseas cropland acquisition in the most countries, from
Mexico to Russia to Australia to Zambia. But the motivation
is neither food security nor international development. Establishing profitable enterprises that create gainful overseas
employment for as many of its own citizens as possible may
be the driving force behind Chinese investment in farmland
in many countries. By some estimates, there are 1 million
Chinese nationals working in Africa, of which an increasing
number may be farmers on some of the 2 million hectares of

www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / June 2009

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World Grain - June 2009

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