HLPE: Land Tenure and International Investment in Agriculture

The current trend in foreign land acquisition has raised considerable public concern. It gives rise to heated political debate and controversies, in the shadow of an ideological divide, whereby ―land grabbing‖ is seen as ―bad, and whereby international investments in agriculture are necessary and good. It is in this background that the CFS requested the HLPE in October 2010, to report on land tenure and international investment in agriculture, and in particular on: ―the respective roles of large-scale plantations and of small-scale farming, including economic, social, gender and environmental impacts; review of the existing tools allowing the mapping of available land; comparative analysis of tools to align large scale investments with country food security strategies.

This report contains the analysis and recommendations of the High Level Panel of Experts, as approved by its Steering Committee, and addressed to the CFS.

The study of the HLPE  formulates policy recommendations in the following three areas:

1) Roles of large-scale plantations and of small-scale farming, including economic, social, gender and environmental impacts

2) Tools allowing the mapping of available land

3) Tools to align large scale investments with country food security strategies

Published by FAO