On the Land Grabbing again....

For those who still have doubts about the effects of these so called Foreign Direct Investments, see some quotes from a recently released new report from FAO:

TRENDS AND IMPACTS OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY AGRICULTURE 
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/Trends%20publication%2012%20November%202012.pdf

The case studies suggest that positive effects on local communities are unlikely to arise when the investment involves large-scale land acquisition, especially when the land was previously utilized in some ways (including informally).

Then, the evidence suggests that the disadvantages far outweigh the benefits. The only economic benefits found were job creation (although there were some limitations as explained above).

At the local level, the studies suggest that one of the main short-term benefits of FDI is the generation of employment, although there are limitations. First, the new jobs created by an investment project may not all be sustainable. In some case studies it was observed that projects are labour intensive during the initial phase but become increasingly mechanized later on, thus reducing future labour requirements. Similarly, a change in the type of crops cultivated on the farm may reduce the job number, as some crops are less labour intensive. Second, the new jobs are not always taken up by local people; labourers may come from other areas or even from abroad. Third, the net employment creation effect may be limited if the new jobs replace former ones or self-employment. Beside the purely quantitative aspects, the quality of the new jobs is important. For example, replacing independent small-scale farmers with low-skilled and poorly-paid worker jobs may threaten the resilience and sustainability of the local food system.

On the other hand, there is ample evidence of the risks of large-scale land acquisition in countries where governance is weak. 

The negative social impacts found include the displacement of local smallholders (often with inadequate or no compensation at all), the loss of grazing land for pastoralists, the loss of income for local communities, and in general, negative impacts on livelihoods due to reduced access to resources, which may lead to social fragmentation. Not surprisingly, these negative effects generate opposition by the local community and may lead to hostile action against the investor.

The studies suggest that large-scale acquisition of land can raise problems even when the transaction is transparent, complies with the established regulations and relates to land that is not utilized (formally or informally) by anyone at the moment of the transaction.

While a number of studies document the negative impacts of large-scale land acquisition in developing countries, there is much less evidence of its benefits to the host country, especially in the short term and at local level.