Large-scale farmland investments in sub-Saharan Africa have to date produced a striking uniformity of largely negative local socioeconomic and environmental outcomes, raising questions about their contribution to sustainable development. This study attributes these outcomes to eight interrelated factors, namely, (1) deficiencies in the law, (2) elite capture, (3) conflicts of interest, (4) capacity constraints, (5) high modernist ideologies, (6) limited contestation, (7) incompatibility of production systems, and (8) misalignment of corporate accountability. Considering the important role of poor implementation and enforcement in shaping outcomes, greater emphasis should be placed on institutional rather than legal reform in host countries. Institutional conditions relating to (1) mandate, (2) capacity, (3) incentives, and (4) accountability need to be fulfilled. Findings also highlight the importance of balanced cross-sectoral reform, risks associated with decentralization, and the need to exercise greater caution when adopting free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) principles. This Info Brief concludes with a number of concrete recommendations for policy makers.

The recent influx of agricultural investment to Africa is increasingly equated with land grabbing by investors from emerging and Northern economies seeking to produce commodities to serve the needs of their own food and energy markets. This paper reflects on this discourse by unpacking agricultural investments in Mozambique – one of the largest recipients of agricultural investment in Africa. By drawing on official investment data and structured interviews conducted with 69 agricultural investors in Mozambique, this paper analyzes agricultural investment trends, characteristics and the factors that shape investors’ social and environmental conduct. It illustrates that, contrary to popular depiction, regional investors, domestic food end-markets, and private finance are the primary drivers of investment. Moreover, this paper shows that investors differ significantly in the types of strategies, business models and practices they adopt. The findings highlight a lack of nuance in the global agricultural investment discourse and the need for more evidence-based policy intervention in order to adequately leverage the potential of agricultural investments to contribute to inclusive green growth.

Under its program of land investments, the Ethiopian government has leased out huge tracts of land to domestic and foreign investors on terms that are highly favorable to both but particularly to foreign ones. Critical reports on the ibonanzai reaped by foreign capital have appeared in the world media and the websites of international activist organizations, and while some of these are based on questionable evidence, the global attention they have drawn may well be deserved given the image of the country as a land of poverty and hunger. This study, which is based on information gathered from field interviews as well as other sources, looks at the subject from a land rights perspective, with emphasis on the relations of power between small land-users and their communities on the one hand and the state on the other. At bottom what is at stake is the land and the resources on it, and what is being grabbed are rights that in most cases belong to peasant farmers, pastoralists and their communities. In the long run, the shift of agrarian system from small-scale to large-scale, foreign dominated production -which is what the investment program is now doing- will marginalize small producers, and cause immense damage to local ecosystems, wildlife habitats and biodiversity.

The Routledge Handbook of Natural Resource Governance in Africa provides a comprehensive analysis of African natural resource governance, stretching across the continent, and encompassing water, land, extractive resources, and mining. Africa’s natural resources are not only crucial for the continent from an economic, environmental, and political perspective, but they are also of significant geopolitical importance, with direct implication for meeting the global challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. Whether an abundance of natural resources proves to be a curse or a blessing depends on the nature, extent, and outcome of the effort and experience of an individual country in governing and managing such assets. It is with this in mind that this ground-breaking handbook brings together experts from across the field of natural resource development to reflect on the varied regime types and paradigms within the continent’s natural resource sectors, the specific challenges they face, and their role within global value chains. The book first considers governance for sustainable development and discourses of land and development financing, before going on to investigate the regulatory and policy impacts, and socioeconomic implications of natural resource management. Finally, the Handbook situates the African continent within the emerging global energy transition; examining trends in South-South cooperation, and new frontiers for the harnessing of critical tools in a sustainable future for natural resource governance and management. Overall, the Handbook’s in-depth analysis provides a unique blend of realism and optimism, highlighting the importance of building a new sustainable African resource narrative for shared prosperity. The handbook will be an essential read for researchers and policy makers with an interest in sustainable development and natural resource governance in Africa.

This book presents the results of a groundbreaking study on ‘spillovers’ of knowledge and technology from global value-chain oriented foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses implications for policymakers hoping to harness the power of FDI for economic development.

"This report was prepared for 'Legal tools for citizen empowerment, ' a programme steered by the International Institute for Environment and Development"--Page iii.

Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant' explores the feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and growth in African agriculture through the identification of products and production systems that can underpin rapid development of a competitive commercial agriculture. Based on a careful examination of the factors that contributed to the successes achieved in Brazil and Thailand, as well as comparative analysis of evidence obtained through detailed case studies of three African countries--Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia--the authors argue that opportunities abound for farmers in Africa to.