A scramble to buy African land is threatening the continent’s sustainable development, according to reports launched today at the Royal Society in London.

Of the 203 million hectares of land deals reported worldwide between 2000 and 2010¹, two-thirds were in Africa. The acquisitions are dispossessing millions of Africans of their land, to make way for expansive forestry and mineral projects and plantations, say a series of briefs² and a report³ published by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an international coalition of groups working to increase community ownership of forests, based in Washington DC.to increase community ownership of forests, based in Washington DC.

http://www.nature.com/news/african-land-grabs-hinder-sustainable-development-1.9955