The SDC and land grabbing

Alliance Sud News: Jacques Diouf, Head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO, described land grabbing in poor countries as neo-colonialism. How does the SDC describe it?
Sabine Schenk: We cannot speak of neo-colonialism alone. These are sovereign states in which investments are being made. The governments view so-called unused land as huge reserves. Now that there is such widespread assumption that the long-term trend will be toward rising food and farmland prices, governments do not wish to leave the land «lying fallow» and are actively courting investors by means of very low lease prices, amongst other things. Ethiopia for example is asking 1-8 dollars per hectare, and the situation is similar in other countries. Some governments are assuming that they will be able to raise prices as soon as the investments are activated and production gets under way.

It was also more or less sovereign states that 80 years ago secured fruit plantations in Central America or in the Philippines. The small farmers are still suffering to this day as a result. What gives you hope that things will be any different this time?
Andrea Ries: There are smarter models than pure plantation agriculture. An investor can work together with small farmers, as is the case with coffee for example. Which models are good and capable of promoting development – that is the question today.

So land grabbing poses no problem, one needs only make sure that it is properly done?
Andrea Ries: No. But we need to differentiate, and look at the type of investment involved. We are not sufficiently familiar with the facts at the moment. The World Bank will be publishing a major study on 20 countries in April. We will then see what the trend is.

Numerous studies already show that it is moving in the wrong direction: pressure on the land is rising, and land rights are being violated.
Sabine Schenk: The problem is that over the past 30 years no investment has been made either in small-scale production of local foodstuffs or in local markets. Instead, investment has been in the traditional export products – cotton, coffee, cocoa, peanuts, etc. Only what was left over, such as surplus manure, went into food production for local markets. And that is particularly true of Africa. Now large investors are to fill that gap. But I think that there is reason to doubt whether they will change anything for the better. Because they are mostly interested in mass production for the world market or for their home country, and not necessarily by sustainable methods.

Where does the solution lie?
Sabine Schenk: Small-scale sustainable production holds enormous growth potential, both for securing self-sufficiency and producing for local, regional and international markets. This must be encouraged.

Yet land grabbing is in complete contradiction to this.
Sabine Schenk: In many African countries the political elites do not believe in small farmers. They see a growing population and increasing land degradation, mounting pressure on resources and productivity that has hardly increased or decreased in recent decades. They wonder: How are we to feed our people, especially the growing urban population? They have adopted the western ideal of modernisation, involving new technologies and large-scale mechanization. They say: we do not have the wherewithal to achieve this, so we need foreign investors.
Andrea Ries: It will indeed call for foreign investment, because development cooperation alone is not enough to cover the enormous pent-up demand.

Is SDC feeling the impact of land grabbing in its priority countries?
Sabine Schenk: Indirectly, for example in Niger, where Gulf states and Libya have set their sights on fertile lands all over the country. It began in the wetlands of the Niger River, which are internationally protected, and where the SDC is working. Saudi investors wanted to secure a concession of 30,000 or 40,000 hectares there to grow rice. The negotiations were taking place behind closed doors in the capital. As word leaked out, resistance took shape. The concession became a national political issue, and the area has remained protected up to now. But the matter has not yet been finally settled. The sensitization and mobilization of the population has nevertheless begun, for Niger has limited resources in terms of water, fertile land and pastures, and investors are targeting most of the prime land.

Is SDC taking up the issue in policy dialogue with the governments?
Sabine Schenk: It is important for us along with other donors to be active in the policy dialogue with governments and regional organizations. It is even more important, however, for the people concerned to be able to weigh in. This requires strong associations of small farmers, including livestock framers – they are probably the worst affected as they roam very sparsely populated areas with their flocks, using the pastures on a seasonal basis. In such cases, governments are quick to say that it is unused land.
It is of paramount importance to support small and livestock farmers such that they can organize themselves to represent their interests nationally and regionally, and exert pressure. For many years now SDC has been deeply involved in the Sahel countries in this regard. It is one of the few donors to engage in capacity building of this kind on a systematic, continuous basis and in dialogue with all the stakeholders, especially with governments. This is bringing results.

The SDC is also engaged in international dialogues. With what objectives?
Andrea Ries: We are supporting two processes. The FAO is working on guidelines for the governance of land and natural resources; they are addressed to governments and are very broad in scope. Thought not exclusively, they are also about land issues, land rights, expropriation or resettlement. In parallel, the World Bank, FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD as well as donor countries are working on principles for responsible agro-investment aimed primarily at private and state enterprises.

Such principles are non-binding and hardly more than a fig leaf.
Andrea Ries: No, they are absolutely warranted, as the example of the forestry and timber industry demonstrates. There are no effective international regulations for companies operating internationally because their home countries, including Switzerland, are opposed to this. But there are models with government, investor and civil society participation, and these can deliver results. One example is the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) for the extraction of raw materials.

What does the SDC expect from the FAO and World Bank processes?
Andrea Ries: The FAO process is of capital importance, because the absence of land rights almost inevitably spawns conflict. Nevertheless, different tools are needed for different players, that is to say, for governments and for investors. Non-binding principles too can also help prevent conflicts precisely in countries with a weak state apparatus.

Interview: Pepo Hofstetter and Michèle Laubscher

Andrea Ries is Head of the SDC Global Programme Food Security.
Sabina Schenk is Advisor for Sector Policies in the SDC Global Programme Food Security division.

Article published in: Alliance Sud News No. 63, Spring 2010