Routes to change: rural women’s voices in land;climate and market governance in sub-Saharan Africa

A report by Global Agriculture examines the agricultural impact of multinational land deals (aka ‘land grabbing’) which are found to be directly harmful to local food security and livelihoods. It describes the phenomena as when: “These international investors;as well as the public;semi-public or private sellers;often operate in legal grey areas and in a no man’s land between traditional land rights and modern forms of property. In many cases of land grabbing;one could speak of a land reform from above;or of the establishment of new colonial relationships imposed by the private sector.” The study used a mix of satellite imagery and agricultural surveys;as well as household dietary datasets. The team examined 160 large-scale land acquisitions across four continents between 2005 and 2015. It is the first comprehensive global analysis of the impact of this kind of land acquisition.