Economics
The Political Economy of Land Grabbing in the Global South
Quick fact
Between 2000 and 2020, over 50 million hectares of land in the Global South were transferred to foreign investors — an area roughly the size of Spain — often via opaque deals that bypass local land users.
Why this is interesting
When a Saudi company buys a million hectares of farmland in Ethiopia to grow rice for its people, national governments cheer the investment while local farmers face eviction. Why does this happen, and who actually wins?