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

There has been a surge in demand for arable land as a resource for agricultural production for food and energy purposes. This surge can be attributed to increases in global food prices, climate change, population pressure, and escalating energy prices. The search for land has given rise to the practice of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA). Due to misconceptions and old colonial views of land in Africa, the continent has become the most targeted region for these land acquisitions. The establishment of these projects in Africa is justified in the name of development. Paradoxically, LSLA has left local communities, especially women, in a more disadvantageous position than before. This qualitative study explores and relates LSLA to the right to food and participation. The thesis also critically engages with SDG – 2 to examine if large-scale projects comply with the goal’s purpose. This thesis aims to investigate the phenomenon of LSLA and how they impact women’s right to food and participation. The author has used qualitative content analysis as a method and relied on peer-reviewed studies on women and land-grabbing in three different countries. Compared to the previous research, the thesis results showed that the impacts of LSLA are gendered and have had severe consequences on women and their access and right to food. The support for business interests that are permeated in SDG – 2 has, based on the cases examined, also exacerbated rather than alleviated hunger which does not comply with the purpose of the goal.