I've read a rather interesting article recently and wanted to share this with you to find out what your views are. There seem to be a trend developing where rich countries acquire large areas of farmland in poor countries. Basically it used to work like this: countries that have lots of capital but not enough arable land or too many people to feed used to import food supplies. Now rather than importing food, they buy vast quantities of land, grow crops there and then send the harvest back home. Of course, the actual idea is not new: ex-colonies were used for similar purposes, following the more recent collapse of the Soviet Union, foreign investors went in to grab the land at next to nothing prices. What's different now, is the size of farmland bought and the fact that it's no longer private firms who are investing in land abroad but the governments. Will this squeeze out a private investor out of this market? What are the implications? Let's discuss...

Don't know much about private investors and stuff, but that scheme's way out of order! It would not surprise me if those poor countries receive a lot of humanitarian aid including food which in itself must be humiliating. And now they have to watch the food grown on their doorstep shipped elsewhere?

Hey, it's getting political here!

Just came back from visiting a friend of mine in Germany. One of their tv chanels is heavily advertising investing in farmand in Paraguay. Among the main incentives are land price and harvest few times a year. Would love to know who is behind this campaign!