Transcript Slide 1

LAND AND POWER
The growing scandal around the new wave
of investments in land
151 Oxfam Briefing Paper
Published 22 September 2011
Date
Presenter
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Contents
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Introduction ( definition, scale, and drivers)
Country case studies (Indonesia and Uganda)
Key issues at national and international levels
Recommendations
Trend: a new global land rush
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Trend: a new land rush
• In developing countries,
227 million hectares of
land have been sold or
leased since 2001
• An area the size of North
Western Europe, 50% in
Africa
• Bulk of these have
occurred since 2007-08
food price spike
• Mostly to foreign
investors
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What is driving this land rush?
Increasing pressures on land from:
• World population – 7bn now to 9bn by 2050
• Global economic growth – economy to triple by 2050
• Changing diets – shift towards animal proteins and
convenience foods is more land-intensive
• Increased demand for biofuels and other non-food
agricultural products
• Rich countries that depend on food imports buy
agricultural land abroad to protect against price hikes
• Speculation
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Why is this land rush occurring now?
• 2007-08 food price spike has triggered renewed
investor interest (public and private) in land and
agriculture
(2011: food prices are back at similar levels as in 2008)
• 2008 financial crisis has sent investors looking for new
investment opportunities
• Investment in land is seen as a safe bet in unsure
financial times
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Land is increasingly scarce
• The demand
for land is
increasing…
• … while the
share of land
available for
agriculture has
peaked.
• So… available
land per capita
is declining.
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Land is important
For small-scale food producers
• Productive asset – Food security, livelihood security,
development opportunities.
• Safety net – In times of crisis and unemployment,
access to land means social security.
• Secondary uses – From medicinal plants to building
materials
• Connection to community and identity – Space for
social, cultural and religious events.
• Gender (in)equality
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Land is important for women
Lack of control of land leaves women vulnerable
• Women account for 50 to 80% of farm work in Africa and
Asia, but control only 10 to 35% of farm land.
• When new commercial opportunities emerge and land
gains value, men often assume control over land, at
the expense of women.
• Women have little access to decision making
processes
• Legislation & implementation discriminate against
women (family law, inheritance, etc)
• Gender based violence is common in land disputes
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Land rights are human rights
• Various UN Human Rights conventions aim to protect
land rights.
• Crucial principle: no shift in land use without the Free
Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of all potentially
affected land users before changes in land ownership
take place.
• Respect for FPIC puts rights holders in a position to
negotiate (say ‘no’, or require adequate compensation)
• Transparency and full impact assessments are crucial
for informed negotiations.
• Rights holders must have access to remedy
mechanisms if rights are violated.
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What do we mean by a land grab? *
‘Land grabs’ are land acquisitions that do one of the
following:
1. Violate human rights, especially those of women
2. Flout the principle of free, prior and informed consent of
land users
3. Ignore the impacts on social, economic and gender
relations, and on environment
4. Avoid transparent contracts
5. Eschew democratic planning, independent oversight and
meaningful participation of land users
*Definition agreed by the ILC – International Land Coalition
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Risk or opportunity?
Increasing investor interest in agriculture and land should
come as good news for small producers…
• … if they are given the right support to benefit from new
opportunities
• … if their land rights are protected by governments
• … if they are respected by investors.
The following case studies show that many land
investments take the form of ‘land grabs’
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Case studies
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Uganda
• At least 25 000 people evicted from their homes for tree plantations
of UK-based New Forests Company.
• NFC promised jobs, and health and education facilities for local
communities. None of these materialised. Affected families have not
been compensated.
• Inconsistent messages from government about whether inhabitants
are living there (il)legally. The High Court found sufficient ground to
order postponing evictions pending hearings.
• Violent evictions went ahead regardless. Homes burned down,
crops destroyed and livestock butchered.
• Communities not involved in negotiation, did not give consent, they
were not compensated, they found no remedy even in a High Court
order
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Indonesia
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Palm oil producer PT MAS (part of Malaysia’s Sime Darby) engaged
in contracts with farmers in 11 villages of Tayan Hulu district
(Sanggau District, West Kalimantan, Indonesia).
Families delivered 7.5 ha. per family and should have received 2 ha
in return, planted with oil palm. However, they only received 1.2 ha.
on average, not enough for a livelihood.
Villagers assumed they were leasing out the land for 35 years. Then
discovered land would revert to the government not to them, and
government may extend the lease to PT MAS for up to 95 years.
In 2007, PT MAS promised to resolve the dispute, but it hasn’t.
Many of the affected families did seem to negotiate and give prior
consent by signing a contract, but they were not well informed. They
were not sufficiently compensated. Even after 15 years, no effective
remedy.
Summary: impacts on communities
• Lack of transparency and exclusion from decision
making, causing uncertainty and disempowerment
• Violent evictions
• Loss of assets including land, houses, crops.
• Loss of livelihoods –> fewer meals, less nutritious food,
school drop-out
• Loss of opportunities
• Divided communities; increased strain on neighbouring
communities and infrastructure.
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Failing accountability mechanisms at
national and international levels
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National and international companies and
governments are accountable
• Operating companies must protect and respect rights
and provide remedy to land use rights holders
• National governments must protect and respect rights
and provide remedy to land use rights holders
• International investors, their financiers and companies
buying from them must equally respect and protect local
land rights, and provide remedy.
• Home governments must hold companies to account
for their activities overseas, and provide protection and
remedy.
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National governments and
companies fail
• Principle of Free Prior Informed Consent not respected
by companies nor required by governments
• No transparency about land deals and contracts
• Complex and overlapping legal systems (including
customary and statutory law) that are exploited or
ignored
• Lack of recourse: Courts inaccessible for rights holders,
or court orders overruled by governments.
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International investors, financiers
and buyers fail
• Investors do not respect previous land use rights
• Financiers do not hold their clients to account
• Sourcing companies do not hold their suppliers to
account
• Investor and sector standards may be useful. They
express commitments and sometimes provide access to
recourse mechanisms.
But:
• Voluntary standards do not bind non-signatory companies
• Complaints mechanisms have not been tested
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International community and home
governments fail
• UN Human rights instruments lack effective mechanisms
to hold governments and companies to account
• Few home governments have effective legislation to hold
their companies to account for overseas activities, or
even require transparency
• Some governments have counterproductive policies that
encourage land grabs, e.g. biofuels mandates
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Roles and responsibilities
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Topline recommendations
• Grievances of communities affected by the case
studies must be resolved
• The balance of power must be shifted in favor of
local communities
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What should international
community do?
• Adopt strong internationally applicable standards on
good governance relating to land tenure and
management of natural resources.
• Voluntary Guidelines on tenure of land, forests and
fisheries to be agreed this year by the CFS.
• Strengthen effectiveness of Human Rights mechanisms
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What should host governments
do?
• Respect and protect all existing land use rights, and ensure
that the principle of free, prior and informed consent is
followed, and that women have equal rights to access and
control over land.
• Ensure women have the same rights to access and control
over land as men, in all relevant legislation.
• Require full disclosure of information and impact
assessments.
• Situate land policies within wider pro-poor agrarian
policies and support to small-scale food producers to
producers
• Design and implement fair and robust redress mechanisms
to process and settle land related disputes.
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What should investors do?
• Respect all existing land use rights
• Make sure that the principle of free, prior, and
informed consent is followed in all agreements
• Seek alternatives to the transfer of land rights
from small food producers
• Be guided by proper social and environmental
impact assessments (including relating to water use)
• Address food security issues.
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What should financiers & buyers
do?
Financiers, including private financiers and public financial
institutions like the World Bank and, buyers, traders,
processors, retailers, brands.
• Accept full supply-chain responsibility.
• Require all agricultural operations that they finance or
use as suppliers to follow minimum principles
• Remedy existing problems.
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What should home governments
do?
• Oblige and monitor companies and (inter)national
public financial institutions like the World Bank/IFC to:
• Acknowledge full supply-chain responsibility
• Provide full disclosure of activities and their impacts on
local communities and natural resources.
• Offer (redress)mechanisms for affected people to hold
investing or sourcing companies to account.
• Remove measures (and subsidies)in national
legislation that support reckless large-scale land
acquisitions, including Biofuels mandates.
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What can (civil)society do?
• Citizens can hold investors, traders and financers
accountable through the ballot box, consumer choices,
and their pensions and investment choices.
• Civil society organizations, along with media and
research institutes, can use accountability
mechanisms, expose bad practices, acknowledge
good practices, and help build transparency.
• Find out more at: www.oxfam.org/landgrabs
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