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This is also the case in East Timor, where large tracts of land have been made available within the last year for foreign companies (Indonesia, the last colonising power, being in the mix) to grow fruits, cane for biofuels, and other crops. Some of the land is apparently 'empty', other bits abandoned, but a quick look on Google Earth would challenge all that, and it is unclear whether landowners will be compensated except through possible jobs. The problem is a weak negotiating position for the (post-conflict) government, abject rural poverty, and chaotic land law. Remember Smith's 'Uneven Development', 1984. Here it is again. http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=12603&geo=5&size=A listen http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/stories/200806/s2269412.ht m Dr. Simon Batterbury, Director, Graduate Environmental Program Office for Environmental Programs, Building 143 (Nat. Philosophy) University of Melbourne, 3010 VIC Australia. +61 (0)3 8344 5073/3314 Fax: +61 (0)3 8344 5650 http://www.environment.unimelb.edu.au & Associate Professor, Dept. of Resource Management and Geography, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, (rm L2.33, 221 Bouverie St) +61 (0)3 8344 9319 Fax +61 (0)3 9349 4218 simonpjb@ unimelb.edu.au http://www.simonbatterbury.net -----Original Message----- From: Kendra Strauss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, 21 November 2008 12:05 AM Subject: Food can be a weapon in this world... "Daewoo to cultivate Madagascar land for free" In today's FT: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e894c6a-b65c-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html For those of you who can't access the online version, I've cut and pasted the story (below): Daewoo Logistics of South Korea said it expected to pay nothing to farm maize and palm oil in an area of Madagascar half the size of Belgium, increasing concerns about the largest farmland investment of this kind. The Indian Ocean island will simply gain employment opportunities from Daewoo's 99-year lease of 1.3m hectares, officials at the company said. They emphasised that the aim of the investment was to boost Seoul's food security.