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In 2007, a spike in commodity prices triggered a sudden increase in demand for agricultural land across the world. It was believed that commercial investors in the Global North speculated on a rise in land and commodity prices. And governments aimed to ensure food security without dependence on the volatile world commodity market by buying up land, largely in the Global South. Now, almost ten years after the term "land grabbing" first entered the popular imagination, large-scale land acquisitions remain shrouded in secrecy. The Land Matrix Initiative aims to shine some light in the deals by providing open access to information on intended, concluded, and failed land acquisitions that have taken place since the year 2000. Over recent years, both the quality and the quantity of the data have improved considerably. This led us to take a fresh look at the current trends in international large-scale land acquisitions.

The production of agrofuel crops is believed to be playing a decisive role in the so-called "land rush," the international scramble for arable land in developing and emerging countries. Reports of an alarming wave of land acquisitions due to "agrofuels hype" initiated by agrofuel investors have made headlines in recent years. The potential merits and dangers of agrofuel production are the subject of heavy debate, with food-security concerns and environmental impacts fueling the controversy. Analysis Based on data from the Land Matrix Global Observatory, our analysis assesses the role of agrofuel production in the "rush for land" and sheds light on the often-nontransparent investment process of agrofuel projects. We find that these projects account for an important share of the global demand for land. However, the "agrofuels hype" is over. Land deals with the intention of cultivating agrofuel crops are particularly prone to failure, especially early on in the projects. We expect that the investors that have survived this first period of investments are here to stay, and that "cowboy investors" have been turned off by difficult investment environments in low- and middle-income countries. Agrofuel production is one of the main drivers of the global rush for land. Twentythree percent of the concluded transnational deals currently recorded in the Land Matrix include plants intended for agrofuel production. Sub-Saharan Africa appears to be the most heavily favored region for agrofuel investments. European investors top the rankings of investor countries for agrofuel projects. Agrofuel crops require huge initial investments and take several years to yield returns. In difficult investment environments, agrofuel projects require experienced and serious investors in order to be successful. Jatropha projects have a particularly high record of failure.

Personenbezogene soziale Dienstleistungsberufe befinden sich aktuell in einer kontroversen Lage: Auf der einen Seite erfahren sie eine erhebliche Expansion, begleitet von steigenden Qualitätsansprüchen an Erziehungs-, Bildungs-, Betreuungs- und Pflegetätigkeiten. Auf der anderen Seite entspricht die Anerkennung dieser Frauenberufe jedoch nach wie vor nicht ihrer tatsächlichen gesamtgesellschaftlichen Bedeutung. Dieses Spannungsfeld erörtern die AutorInnen aus verschiedenen Perspektiven.

For local people in sub-Saharan Africa, large land investment projects currently imply many risks and few benefits. Drawing on own ethical and economic research and using evidence from the authors' case studies in Kenya, Mali and Zambia and a new database of large-scale land acquisitions worldwide, this brief offers policy recommendations for host governments, investors and the international community so as to achieve a more favourable balance of risks and benefits in land investment projects. Our research suggests that the land governance systems of sub-Saharan African countries, comprising a multitude of sometimes contradictory laws derived from colonial and customary systems, privilege powerful actors and lead to violation of human rights. Legal uncertainty and an acquisition process that gives no voice to local land users can lead to displacements of farmers without compensation. Poorly enforced formal laws, neglect of built-in checks and balances, and power and information asymmetries between investors and local people can give rise to coalitions of investors and powerful rent-seekers. Displaced farmers and those unable to find jobs on the land investment projects migrate to other rural areas or the cities, and few and only low-skilled jobs are available to those who remain. We found limited evidence of positive spillovers from improved infrastructure and knowledge and technology transfer. Local food prices are likely to rise, as most of the production on investment farms is for export. Overall, when many farmers are displaced and investment projects are capital intensive the net welfare effect for the local population can be expected to be negative. Against this background, we propose a set of policy changes for promoting benefits for the local population and avoiding human rights violations. In contrast to proposals made by international guidelines and codes of conduct, we emphasize in particular the responsibilities of host country governments.

The beta version of the Global Observatory was launched by the Land Matrix in April 2012 with the aim of creating a reliable source of data to feed debate and provoke informed action on large-scale land deals. The Land Matrix has since become an important reference point and its website has received over 165,000 visits since 2013, with the database being downloaded 20,000 times. It is widely quoted in research papers and in the press, and is increasingly being used by national organisations - including those representing land users themselves - to inform strategic planning and to open up policy dialogue. The Sustainable Development Goals have renewed the demand for good data that can inform action and measure progress towards their achievement. The Land Matrix is a contribution to this effort, producing a wealth of data to complement official statistics and geographical information on land deals and their impacts. Transparency is embraced by the International Land Coalition (ILC)'s 207 members as one of the 10 critical ingredients in achieving "people-centred land governance" - i.e. land governance that first and foremost meets the needs, and responds to the priorities, of the women, men and communities who live off the land. We are beginning to observe private and governmental investors becoming more open to sharing their investment projects, realising that it is in their interests to do so. Nevertheless, transparency is still not the norm, and there remains a challenge in complementing global data with local data, particularly regarding the impact of land deals. This report is being launched in the same year that over 400 organisations have come together behind a Global Call to Action on Community and Indigenous Land Rights, drawing attention to the massive gap between the area of land globally that is claimed by the world's indigenous peoples and local communities (65%) and the proportion of these claims that are actually recognised by governments (10%) - which means that the livelihoods of up to 2.5 billion women and men worldwide are rendered precarious. This is land where the utmost caution must be exercised in considering any form of large-scale land-based investment. The authors of this report find that about one-third of agricultural deals recorded in the Land Matrix involve land formerly used by smallholder farmers. This gap in recognition, which is fuelling large-scale dispossessions, is one of the key issues on which urgent joint action is needed. ILC is glad that the Land Matrix Initiative is becoming more and more relevant as a data source for communities, activists, indigenous peoples, researchers, governments and the private sector alike to make informed decisions on global and local land governance.

Landpachten indischer Investoren in Madagaskar wecken erneut Ängste der Bevölkerung,
meldet die madagassische Online-Zeitung La Gazette. Bereits 2009 war ein ähnliches
Geschäft geplatzt und hatte zum Sturz des Präsidenten geführt. Damals hatte das
südkoreanische Unternehmen Daewoo versucht, 1,3 Millionen Hektar Land – das entspricht
in etwa der Fläche von Thüringen – für 99 Jahre zu pachten. Medien und Nichtregierungsorganisationen berichten vermehrt über sogenannte "Landnahmen" (land grabbing), den Ausverkauf afrikanischen Agrarlandes an ausländische Investoren. Auch die Weltbank und die Welternährungsorganisation (FAO) beschäftigen sich mit landwirtschaftlichen Großinvestitionen. Diese Debatte basiert bislang allerdings auf unzureichenden Informationen. Erste Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass das schlichte Bild des Landraubs für die Exportproduktion nicht zutrifft - die Realität ist viel komplexer. Das Phänomen landwirtschaftlicher Großinvestitionen ist nicht neu. Aktuell wächst jedoch die Nachfrage nach der knappen Ressource Agrarland. Zudem treten neue
und auch staatliche Investoren, etwa aus der Golfregion, auf. Ein Problem ist bisher die Intransparenz der Vergabepraxis. Allerdings entsteht durch die Präsenz des Themas in der Öffentlichkeit erheblicher Druck auf Regierungen und Investoren, größere Transparenz herzustellen. Die möglichen Auswirkungen von Agrarinvestitionen sind vielfältig. Zu klären sind jeweils Fragen der Landnutzung, der Zugriffsrechte auf Land und der Kompensationsregelungen, wenn Konflikte mit der lokalen Bevölkerung vermieden werden sollen. Doch können solche Investitionen auch zur dringend benötigten Steigerung
der Produktivität der afrikanischen Landwirtschaft beitragen. Erste Forschungsergebnisse legen nahe, dass weder das Bild des gierigen "Landräubers",
der Land stiehlt und Produkte exportiert, noch das Bild des wohltätigen Investors,
der sich vor allem um die Entwicklung der ländlichen Räume Afrikas sorgt, richtig ist. Daher ist weder eine ausschließlich positive Bewertung noch eine grundsätzliche
Ablehnung ausländischer Agrarinvestitionen sinnvoll.

As foreigners snap up farmland around the world, it is hard to know who is investing in what, and what the effects on local people might be. An international database is throwing light on the murk.

Attendu que de nombreux investisseurs s'arrachent les terres agricoles dans le monde entier, il est difficile de savoir qui s'implique dans quelle entreprise et quels pourraient en être les effets sur les populations locales. Une base de données internationale fait la lumière sur cette situation confuse.