Impact of large scale investments on the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities : the cases of green fuels and Tongaat Hullett Zimbabwe

The impacts of large-scale agricultural investments on rural communities’ land ownership, food security, productivity, income, and access to education and health differ within and between communities depending on business and government influence. Recent examples of large-scale investment models are dependent on the legal landscape in the investor’s country of origin, the investor-community linkages, and the nature of partnership with governments. Positive impact can be minimal, resulting in conflict where implementation fails to influence standards of living and livelihoods, or fails to take into account local institutions, norms and values. Tongaat Hulett is an agriculture and agri-processing business, focusing on sugarcane and maize.