Foreign governments and large scale financial institutions, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts as well as private and public companies are showing rising interest in farm ownership and management in several countries in Africa, South-east Asia, Central Europe and South America. Even though private investment in land acquisition in countries in the South is not new, the present ones have triggered the alarm of the local and international media first, and then that of the nongovernmental organisations, international institutions and academia and research communities due to the possible negative social, economic and environmental implications that could result from these activities.
By Cecilia Tortajada, 2013. Background Research Paper, High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, 58 pages.