During 2008 we experienced an expansion of large scale investments in foreign farmland. This increasing trend has become a political hot-spot, but there is not much research available within the field. Due to a lack of research it remains a vital task to outline the potential effects of this trend. Drawing on existing ideas from some of the main actors within the field, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the latest G8 summit on agriculture, four main purposes are set out for this paper. First, to outline some of the underlying mechanisms behind the trend is considered crucial for the understanding of the nature of these investments. Second, this paper reviews how these actors’ deals with this trend in relation to one of the core objects in the field of Political Science, namely national sovereignty. Furthermore, this paper examines how existing ideas may affect the global vision of reaching a sustainable development and the global commitment to reduce poverty. Using key concepts of sovereignty, globalization theory, development theory and the green theory as a basis for comparison, this study reaches some interesting findings. Some of the key findings are; - The actors, in the scope of this study, have a common understanding of the trend. Joint commitments and actions can therefore be expected from the international community. - National sovereignty is not considerd when discussing the regulation of the trend. Furthermore, sovereignty is not equally distributed between rich and poor countries. - Based on current ideas about development we will very unlikely be able to reduce poverty and at the same time reach the vision on a sustainable society. The two concepts are currently not compatible.

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The rush for land has escalated the last decade, with Sub-Saharan Africa as the most targeted region. Governments, local elites and foreign corporations are increasingly taking control over large areas of agricultural lands with the aim of creating higher financial returns and achieve food security. This phenomenon, known as land grabbing, has received a lot of attention worldwide, not least from non-governmental organizations and scholars stressing the negative impacts on rural farmers and families. Yet, several international organizations as well as many African governments keep advocating the positive effects that land grabbing can have on poverty reduction and economic growth. The dominating capitalist and neoliberal view on development, focusing largely on the economic part, undermines the social and environmental impacts that these investments bring. The purpose of this comparative study is therefore to examine, analyze and compare these impacts in Ghana and Ethiopia, two countries heavily affected by land grabbing. This is done through the lens of political ecology, where concepts such as environmental justice, accumulation by dispossession and sustainable rural livelihoods will be of particular significance. Based on a systematic literature review, the results show that land grabbing projects, said to aim at stimulating economic and social development, have resulted in dispossessions, injustices and environmental conflicts wherein indigenous communities have been deeply affected. Their traditional livelihoods, based mainly on cultivation, fishing, gathering and hunting, have been threatened by several impacts from the land grabs. These include loss of land, declined access to resources, damaged ecosystems, deforestation and lack of alternative ways to maintain food security.

abstract: Large-scale land acquisition (LaSLA), also called "land grabbing" refers to the buying or leasing of large tracts of land, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by foreign investors to produce food and biofuel to send back home. Since 2007, LaSLA has become an important development issue due to the opportunities and threats for SSA countries. LaSLA has the potential to create local jobs, transfer technology, build infrastructure, and modernize SSA's agriculture. Nonetheless, it can also aggravate food insecurity, perpetuate corruption, degrade ecosystems, cause conflicts, and displace local communities. What drives LaSLA, what are its impacts on local people, and under what circumstances can we consider it as just and ethical? To examine what drives LaSLA, I used country level data from 2005 to 2013 on economic conditions, natural resources, business practices, and governance to estimate LaSLA models. I find that LaSLA increases with increasing government effectiveness, land prices, and the ease of doing business, and decreases with stronger regulatory regimes. To assess LaSLA's impacts on local people, I conducted a comparative case study in Tanzania. I compare changes in peoples' livelihood between treatment villages (those experiencing LaSLA) and control villages (those without LaSLA projects). The results show that under current practices, the risks of LaSLA outweigh the benefits to local livelihoods, yet there are potential benefits if LaSLA is implemented correctly. To philosophically examine whether LaSLA can be considered just and ethical, I apply John Rawls' theory of justice. The analysis indicates that from both procedural and distributive justice perspective, LaSLA currently fails to satisfy Rawlsian principles of justice. From these analyses, I conclude that if implemented correctly, LaSLA can produce a win-win outcome for both investors and host countries. I suggest that strong governance, rigorous environmental and social impact assessment, and inclusion of local people at all levels of LaSLA decision making are critical for sustainable and equitable outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2017

A questão agrária em Minas Gerais é permeada por conflitos e por uma estrutura fundiária concentradora, cujas raízes encontra-se no processo de formação da propriedade privada da terra. Buscando compreender essa questão, a partir de uma leitura geográfica, analisei processos de divisão e demarcação de terras particulares, que tramitaram na antiga Comarca de Grão Mogol, no Norte de Minas Gerais. Esses processos tiveram amparo jurídico no Decreto Nº 720 de 05 de setembro de 1890 promulgado durante o Governo Provisório e insere-se no conjunto de medidas legais que permearam a transferência do controle das terras devolutas para os Estados. A divisão e demarcação de terras foi uma estratégia geopolítica utilizada pelas elites fundiárias locais e regionais para se apropriarem das terras públicas devolutas. Nas décadas de 1920 e 1930, quando tramitaram os processos de divisão e demarcação de terras no Norte de Minas Gerais, teve início a grilagem judicial que transformou grileiros em proprietários de terras. Esse processo desigual de apropriação privada das terras públicas envolveu a extração da renda fundiária, em diferentes contextos, que se somaram ao longo do avanço do modo de produção capitalista sobre as terras soltas, terras livres, de uso comum nos gerais. A partir da década de 1960, em decorrência de mais uma aliança entre o Estado e os rentistas (elites locais e empresas de plantio de madeira para produção de carvão para as siderúrgicas), através da SUDENE e RURALMINAS, na fração do território estudada, por meio de contratos de arrendamentos foram entregues mais de 500 mil hectares de terras devolutas a empresas, que desmataram o Cerrado e a Caatinga e invadiram as terras de morada, trabalho e reprodução da vida das famílias camponesas geraizeiras. O pacto rentista, segue em curso, com a territorialização dos monopólios das empresas monoculturas de árvores e de exploração mineral. Como consequência desse processo desigual e contraditório, iniciado com a adjudicação de terras na década de 1930, desdobrou-se a retaliação fundiária, conceito que utilizo para explicar dois movimentos: de um lado, realiza-se o confinamento das famílias geraizeiras em porções recortadas de terras alheias às suas práticas costumeiras de uso, submetendo camponeses ao trabalho nas carvoarias ou no plantio de eucalipto e até a expulsão de suas terras de morada. De outro lado, as lutas geraizeiras pela conquista e retomada de suas terras de uso tradicional, ao qual se somam as lutas territoriais indígena e quilombola. Esta tese também tem o propósito de evidenciar o embate dialético colocado entre o direito e o rentismo, a partir da análise da disputa também judicial pela autodemarcação do Território Tradicional Geraizeiro do Vale das Cancelas, abrangendo terras nos municípios de Grão Mogol, Josenópolis, Riacho dos Machados e Padre Carvalho, atualmente distribuídos na jurisdição das Comarcas de Grão Mogol, Porteirinha e Salinas, cujas terras têm sido alvo da prática da grilagem judicial e do processo de retaliação fundiária, iniciado com as ações de divisão e demarcação de fazendas, dentre as quais, algumas sequer existiram, mas que tiveram sua origem documental judicialmente legitimadas. / The agrarian issue in the state of Minas Gerais is permeated by conflicts and by a concentrated land structure, whose roots lie in the process of formation of private land property. Seeking to comprehend this issue, based on a geographic reading, i analyze procedures of division and demarcation in private lands, which were processed in the former Grão Mogol County, a northern city of Minas Gerais. These procedures were legally protect by the Decree nº 720 of September 5th, 1890 promulgated during the Provisional Government and is part of the legal measures that permeated the transfer of control of the vacant lands of Brazilian states. Land division and demarcation was a geopolitical strategy used by local and regional land elites to appropriate the vacant public lands. In the decades of 1920 and 1930, when processes of division and demarcation of lands in the North of Minas Gerais were processed, judicial land grabbing began, transforming grabbers in landowners. This unequal procedures of private appropriation of public lands involved the extraction of land income, on loose lands, free lands commonly used in general. Since the 1960s, as a result of a further alliance between the state and the renties (local elites and the timber companies for the production of coal for steel mills), through SUDENE (Superintendence of the Development of Brazilian Northeast) and RURALMINAS (Rural Institution of Minas Gerais), in the fraction of the territory studied, for in the middle of lease agreements, more than 500,000 hectares of vacant lands (terras devolutas) were delivered to companies that deforested the Cerrado and the Caatinga, and invaded the homestead, work and reproduction of the life of the Geraizeira peasant families. The rentier pact continues, with the territorialisation of the monopolies of companies of monoculture of trees and mineral exploration. As a consequence of this unequal and contradictory process, begun with the adjudication of lands in the 1930s, land retaliation was deployed, a concept that i use to explain two movements: on one hand, the families of Geraizeiras are confined in cut-out portions of Lands alien to their customary practices of use, subjecting peasants to work in charcoal or eucalyptus plantations, and even the expulsion of their land. On the other hand, the Geraizeiras struggles for the conquest and resumption of their lands of traditional use, to which are added the territorial struggles indigenous and quilombola. This thesis also has the purpose of evidencing the dialectical conflict between rights and rentism, from the analysis of the judicial dispute for the autodemarcation of the Tradicional Geraizeiro Territory of Vale das Cancelas, covering lands in the municipalities of Grão Mogol, Josenópolis, Riacho dos Machados and Padre Carvalho, currently distributed in the jurisdiction of the Counties of Grão Mogol, Porteirinha and Salinas, whose lands have been subject to the practice of judicial land grabbing and the process of land retaliation, initiated with the actions of division and demarcation of farms, among the which, some even existed, but had their documentary origin judicially legitimized.

The contemporary phenomenon of the global rush for farmland has generated intense debate from different actors. While the proponents embrace it as a "development opportunity", the critics dub it "land grabbing". Others use a neutral term: "arge-scale land acquisitions". Whatever terminology is used, one fact remains indisputable - since 2007 vast swathes of farmlands in developing countries have been sold or leased out to large-scale commercial farmers. Ethiopia is one of the leading countries in Africa in this regard and, as a matter of state policy, it promotes these investments in peripheral regions that are predominantly inhabited by pastoralists and other indigenous communities. So far, the focus of most of the studies on this phenomenon has been on its economic, food security and environmental aspects. The questions of land rights and political implications have been to a great extent overlooked. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to this knowledge gap by drawing upon the experience of the Gambella regional state - the epicentre of large-scale land acquisition in Ethiopia. To this end, this thesis argues that large-scale land acquisitions in Ethiopia is indeed redefining indigenous communities' right to land, territories and natural resources in fundamental ways. By doing so, it also threatens the post-1991 social contract - i.e. ethnic federalism - between the envisaged new Ethiopian state and its diverse communities, particularly the peripheral minorities and indigenous ethnic groups. / Church Development Service (EED) now ¿Brot für Die Welt¿

Na Amazônia, as políticas de destinação de terras públicas constroem-se a partir de aparelhamentos jurídicos que, comumente, sinalizam a situações bastante alheias aos camponeses e outras populações que ocupam a região. Historicamente, tais políticas tendem a se delinear em favor da construção das condições formais para a apropriação privada da terra pelo grande capital. Por outro lado, apresentam pouca e algumas vezes nenhuma vocação para dar conta da diversidade social e cultural das ocupações camponesas. O atuar desse aparelho jurídico e político, entretanto, não é linear, mas produtor de movimentos contraditórios, abrindo condições para recriação e reprodução das possibilidades de acesso à terra a posseiros, quilombolas, ribeirinhos, varjeiros, beiradeiros e diversos outros grupos da floresta. Esta pesquisa trata essencialmente dos caminhos e descaminhos das políticas de destinação de terras públicas na Amazônia, em especial, no oeste paraense. Pretende entender os processos que as engendram, suas diversas modalidades e suas contradições inerentes. Especial atenção é dada à prática ainda em voga de se entregar terra e recursos ao capital sob discursos sociais. Mais precisamente, ao estudo de como, pela implementação abrupta de uma gigantesca área de assentamentos de reforma agrária, serviuse, não aos clientes da reforma agrária, mas a madeireiros, grileiros e à fabricação de números fictícios para os índices de famílias assentadas. / Policies related to the destination of public lands in Amazonia are built upon judicial instruments that often derive from situations far removed from those lived by peasants and other populations who occupy the region. Historically such policies have tended to be shaped in favour of the construction of formal conditions that enable private appropriation of land by large-scale capital. On the other hand, these policies offer little and in some cases, no inclination to do justice to the social and cultural diversity of peasant occupations. Nonetheless, the actions by this judicial and political apparatus are not linear; rather they have produced contradictory movements, creating conditions which foster the re-creation and reproduction of possibilities of access to land by occupants who do not hold titles, descendants of runaway slaves, riverine dwellers, floodplain dwellers, riverbank dwellers and several other forest groups. This research essentially considers the ebbs and flows involved in the politics of public land destination in Amazonia, with a focus on the western portion of the state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon. It aims to understand the processes that engendered them, their diverse modalities and inherent contradictions. Particular attention is paid to the still current practice of handing over land and resources to large-scale capital under the guise of social discourse. Specifically, a study has been conducted on how the abrupt establishment of an immense area destined for land reform settlements benefitted loggers and land grabbers and produced falsified lists of settled families, instead of real land reform clients.

The contemporary phenomenon of the global rush for farmland has generated intense debate from different actors. While the proponents embrace it as a 'development opportunity', the critics dub it 'land grabbing'. Others use a neutral term: 'large-scale land acquisitions'. Whatever terminology is used, one fact remains indisputable - since 2007 vast swathes of farmlands in developing countries have been sold or leased out to large-scale commercial farmers. Ethiopia is one of the leading countries in Africa in this regard and, as a matter of state policy, it promotes these investments in peripheral regions that are predominantly inhabited by pastoralists and other indigenous communities. So far, the focus of most of the studies on this phenomenon has been on its economic, food security and environmental aspects. The questions of land rights and political implications have been to a great extent overlooked. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to this knowledge gap by drawing upon the experience of the Gambella regional state - the epicentre of large-scale land acquisition in Ethiopia. To this end, this thesis argues that large-scale land acquisitions in Ethiopia is indeed redefining indigenous communities' right to land, territories and natural resources in fundamental ways. By doing so, it also threatens the post-1991 social contract - i.e. ethnic federalism - between the envisaged new Ethiopian state and its diverse communities, particularly the peripheral minorities and indigenous ethnic groups.

Les transactions foncières avec des entreprises étrangères, plus communément qualifiées d’« accaparement des terres », sont considérées comme un enjeu de développement central dans de nombreux pays du continent africain. Ce problème rythme, depuis la fin des années 2000, les débats médiatiques et politiques et donne lieu à une production scientifique prolifique. Cette thèse se veut une contribution aux résultats pluridisciplinaires existants en construisant les transactions foncières, c’est-à-dire les processus d’échange de ressources, de sens et de pouvoir, comme un objet de recherche heuristique en science politique qui permet d’engager une discussion théorique stimulante sur les liens entre l’Etat, le pouvoir et le territoire. Alors que la littérature tend à négliger les expressions plurielles de l’Etat dans la marchandisation des terres, cette recherche démontre, à travers le cas tanzanien, que l’analyse des transactions foncières et de la formation de l’Etat sont indissociables. L’étude des politiques de promotion de l’investissement en Tanzanie, discutée à travers les résultats de trois cas de transaction foncière, prouve que les enjeux de la mise en marché des terres ne peuvent être lus qu’au regard de la construction historique de l’Etat. D’une part, les politiques de transactions foncières ne cessent d’être régulées, négociées et (re)orientées par les acteurs étatiques. D’autre part, ces politiques publiques participent à la (trans)formation continue de l’Etat tanzanien. L’enjeu de cette thèse est ainsi de renouveler les recherches sur le foncier, sur la construction de l’Etat et sur l’analyse de l’action publique. / Recent land deals with foreign companies, often referred to as “land grabs”, are considered to be a central development issue in many African countries. Since the late 2000s, the mediagenic question of “land grabbing” has stimulated political debates and has led to a prolific and pluridisciplinary literature. This thesis aims to contribute to the existing research by approaching land deals as a heuristic research object in political science. More precisely, we argue that land investment projects challenge the relationship between state, power and territory. Much of the literature on “land grabbing” tends to overlook the multiple expressions of the state in the different processes of land commodification. However, by using Tanzania as a case study, we demonstrate that land deals and state-building processes are mutually dependent. Our empirical analysis of the Tanzanian land investment policies and of three specific transactions with foreign companies, proves that the commodification of land rights is strictly linked to historical state formation. On the one hand, policies of land deals are constantly regulated, negotiated and (re)oriented by state actors. On the other hand, public policies shape the continuous formation of the Tanzanian state. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to renew the research on land, state-building and public policy analysis.

El presente artículo plantea que viene ocurriendo una transformaciónde la relación entre la tierra, los comuneros y las comunidades que,en el caso de la costa norte peruana, se vincula con una doble dinámica: (i) la creciente presión externa sobre el recurso por capitales privados nacionales y trasnacionales, y (ii) el surgimiento de nuevas formas y motivaciones de acceso a la tierra por los comuneros. En este escenario, las comunidades buscan desarrollar mecanismos de contención que, sin embargo, escapan a las lógicas de control propias del ámbito comunal e implican, de manera paradójica, el riesgo de un progresivo desmembramiento de porciones del territorio comunal. Para sustentar lo anterior, el texto analiza los nuevos usos (y usos potenciales) de la tierra que generan expectativas entre los comuneros, así como las nuevas estrategias de acceso al recurso que se disputan diversos actores. Para ello, toma como referencia el estudio de dos comunidades de la costa norte peruana: San Lucas de Colán y San Juan Bautista de Catacaos. Retomar elementos de su historia de conformación permitirá observar cómo varían las formas de acceso a la tierra a lo largo del tiempo y qué nuevas lógicas aparecen en las últimas décadas. Finalmente, a manera de hipótesis, el artículo sugiere que estas nuevas lógicas cambian el sentido de lo comunal y la naturaleza del vínculo entre comunidad y comuneros: estos últimos buscan, de manera creciente, acceder a nuevas tierras sin que ello implique necesariamente su permanencia en el territorio comunal ni un uso productivo de sus parcelas. De esta manera, las comunidades de la costa norte se encuentran frente al reto de una posible transformación como referente principal de acceso y defensa de la tierra. / This article argues that there is a transformation in the relationship between land, peasant communities and its members or comuneros. In the case of the communities of the Peruvian northern coast, this transformation links with a double dynamic: (i) the increasing external pressure on the resource from the private-national and transnational capitals, and (ii) the emergence of new means and motivations of access to land among the communal members. Under these circumstances, the communities seek to develop mechanisms of containment that, nevertheless, escape to their own logics of controland imply the risk of a progressive division of shares of the communal territory.In order to demonstrate this, the article examines new uses (and potential uses) of the land that generates more expectations among the comuneros, and new strategies of access to the resource that different actors compete for. Two peasant communities in the north coast of Peru, San Lucas de Colán and San Juan Bautista de Catacaos, are used as case studies. In orther to understand the variation of access to land trought time and to point out the new logics in the last decades, this article will examine the history and configuration process of land tenure in these communities. Finally, the article suggests as a hipothesis that these new logics transform the meanning of community and the relationship between the peasant communities and the comuneros. The latter seek to gain access tonew lands without necesarily involving their permanency in the communal territory nor having a productive use of their plots. Hence, the north coast communities are facing the challenge of a possible transformation in their functions like the control and defense of land.