Land grabs II: PBS NewsHour covers Ethiopia's Farming Investments

PBS NewsHour is first mainstream medium I've seen discuss land grabs.

Last Thursday, PBS NewsHour aired a newscast discussing the conflicts arising from foreign commercial agricultural investment in Ethiopia, an impoverished region without food security. The report is part of a collaboration with the Project for Under-Told Stories at St. John's University in Minnesota and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and is the first mainstream newscast I've seen addressing the devestation of land grabs in poor countries.

As I posted last week, the World Bank and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations) both seem to suggest that there can be benefits to foreign land acquisitions when handled properly. However, most social justice organizations argue that the practice is unsustainable--threatening food security for indigenous populations in poor countries that have little representation when these deals are made.

The biggest problem regarding land grabbing is the lack of transparency of such transactions. Not only are deals made behind the backs of the local people affected the most, but most deals are also made in secrecy, leaving the public blind to this major agricultural issue. Even the world's major agricultural organizations such as IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) have little data on how many transactions are actually in affect. In fact, progressive, under-the-radar media and blogs seem to be the only ones covering the topic.

Consequently, I'm thrilled to see Fred de Sam Lazaro and PBS increasing transparency by covering such an underreported issue. I strongly reccommend watching the newscast. Hopefully it will increase international awareness and motivate other journalists to research this threat to Africa's food security.

The Meatrix uses humor to expose horrors of factory farming to public

The Meatrix, a viral video that launched in November 2003, is a "unique vehicle by which to educate, entertain and motivate people to create change," according to its site. Now a series, these videos seek to educate viewers about where there food comes from, shedding a humorous, yet grotesque light on the hidden horrors of factory farming.

The Meatrix, which was released by Free Range Studios, has several suggestions for sustainable eating including: eating less meat, seeking out sustainable restaurants and shopping at local farmer's markets.

I appreciated that suggestions from The Meatrix didn't seem horribly extreme, and seemed to focus on health, a concern more easily related to the general public. A quirky way of promoting sustainable eating for all ages.

Land grabbing: food security and exploitation

Until a couple of days ago, I'd never heard about land grabbing. However, according to an article published by the Oakland Institute, around 180 instances of land grabbing have been reported since mid-2008.

The same article defines land grabbing as "the purchase or lease of vast tracts of land by wealthier, food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing countries in order to produce crops for export." For example, China may set up large pork and chicken operations in Australia to keep up with the demand for meat among Chinese consumers. Meat consumption in China has quadrupled in the last 30 years, a common trend among countries in a period of rapid industrialization.

As countries grow wealthier and tastes expand, large agribusinesses search for ways to satisfy consumers by mass producing well-liked products; however, such expansion takes land. Consequently, wealthy countries buy or lease land cheap from poorer nations. However, this can cause ecological problems for those nations, and in some cases increase food insecurity for countries already struggling.

The Oakland Institute says that, "The International Food Policy Research Institute (IF PRI) has reported that foreign investors sought or secured between 37 million and 49 million acres of farmland in the developing world between 2006 and the middle of 2009." That's 49 million acres those countries can no longer use to grow their own food.

Farmlandgrab.org, a blog that aggregated news reports on the issue as a resource for activists, non-government organizations and journalists, says the World Bank, in an attempt to address the growing trend, put out principles for responsible agro-enterprise investment. However, legions of organizations promoting sustainable agriculture condemn the World Bank for legitimizing the practice.

I'm hoping to learn more about this practice in the future. Hopefully, mainstream news will soon pick up a topic that is potentially exploiting unknown numbers of poor countries. Just food for thought.