“Land monopoly”:
The World Bank aims at regulating land acquisitions

The World Bank is concerned with the problem of agricultural land acquisitions in poor countries. In a report published 7 September 2010, entitled “Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it yield sustainable and equitable benefits?”, World Bank experts have come to a rather pessimistic conclusion on land acquisitions, which they consider harmful to the stability of developing countries.

In 2009, 45 million hectares of land were sold compared to 4 million per year over the previous decade, an increase of 1025%. “With food prices still highly volatile, large scale land deals are a growing reality in the developing world, highlighting the need for concerted action for the benefit of all parties” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Director in charge of Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia.

Several solutions are being put forward. The World Bank recommends that arable land investments be managed within a code of conduct. The organization will also begin working with governments and interested parties to put these principles into practice and an online forum is to be launched for those involved. This corroborates the recommendations made in the momagri article "For a better supervision of farmland purchases in developing countries."

Even though the need for policy management is increasingly more recognised, parallel monitoring indicators are essential. And it is to this effect, that momagri are developing the OSE index (Optimal Food Security and Economic Effectiveness), which aims at assessing a country’s optimum level of openness and independence in relation to the outside world, at regional and international levels, reflected by its highest possible levels of food security.