Deutsche Welle | 20 January 2014

Millions of hectares of land in Africa, Asia and Latin America find their way into the hands of large-scale foreign investors each year. The victims of “land grabbing” are local villagers and farmers. 

The figures are immense: 32.9 million hectares (81 million acres) of land in developing and emerging countries have been leased or sold to foreign investors in recent years – an area around the size of Germany. Negotiations are underway for a further 54 million hectares. These are the estimates of numerous NGOs. This phenomenon, known as land grabbing, has only recently happened on such a large scale. When food prices across the global market tripled in 2008, interest in cheap agricultural land surged…

http://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23057#sthash.x0iO2lJy.dpuf