Handbook of Research on In-Country Determinants and Implications of Foreign Land Acquisitions

Recommended for those in need of an overview of the issues underlying the debate on foreign land deals in Sub Saharan Africa. [...] Provides a well -organised collection of papers on the main economic, social and ethical issues arising from the expansion of foreign land deals from perspective of mainly Sub Saharan researchers who are the most concerned and perhaps most well-informed. Both the qualitative and quantitative analysis takes a broad view of the challenges and opportunities these provide and reflect the complexity of the issue and the need to nuance the conclusions.

Osabuohien focuses on the implications of large-scale land deals/acquisitions at the global level and within-countries and considers recent patterns of investment which reveal that a greater proportion of global land deals occur in countries that have both available land and weak institutions. Citing the need for further investigation, he and his contributors examine the impact on local communities and the economic, sociological, and environmental issues surrounding these land transactions. Twenty-one chapters are divided into five sections: overview, historical issues, and the general state of affairs; land acquisitions and the gender nexus; country and inter-country variations of land acquisitions; households and community implications of land acquisitions; land reforms, legal framework, and agricultural transformation.

In a research arena often dominated by scholars from the global North, this book provides a welcome set of developing perspectives on key issues concerning large-scale land acquisitions.

...Rich in every regard: 21 chapters, covering seven African countries and India, shedding light on various facets of the phenomenon, including ethical and normative questions, gender, determinants and implications, land governance, the role of customary authorities, and land reforms and applying a variety of methods.

This approach recognizes the complexity of a phenomenon that demands context-sensitive research. The chapters compare land acquisitions across countries, on the national level, specifically look into the effects on communities and households, and study individual deals – including foreign and domestic ones – appraising a lot of primary data. One of the central findings is that implications are felt on the local, national, and regional level, and that impacts vary within and across countries. The outlook is rather bleak: the hope of win-win investments is dashed and authors call national governments to take responsibility.