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Sub-Saharan Africa has always been perceived as a land-abundant continent. Deininger & Byerlee (2011) estimate that the continent has the largest area of potentially available uncultivated land. Despite these abundant resources, the agricultural sector continues to be dominated by smallholder production that is characterized by high labor and low capital intensities – but still produces the majority of food in Africa (IFAD & UNEP, 2013). Recently, the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has attracted attention from scholars, civil society and policy makers that are interested in understanding the recent increase in the demand for agricultural land, often referred to as the “rush for land.” This increased demand for agricultural land has raised expectations that the new wave of private investments could lead to growth and poverty reduction – and could thereby catalyze a long awaited transformation of the continent’s rural areas
