Land grab: A battle for resources

Food insecurity is becoming a major topic nowadays. Developed nations have addressed this issue by buying large extensions of terrain in foreign soil, sometimes not just for producing food but producing biofuels. This situation, as handled ever since, is helping the developed world to feed but is not helping host nations to solve their multiple issues. Small and poor countries sometimes have the power to revert unfavorable situations (clearly, circumstances influence), Venezuela could serve as an example of how situations and will can mix to generate the best of the impacts for a nation.

At the present time, there is a perception that food is becoming scarce, reason why the countries with better economic possibilities have started to secure their food provision buying portions of other countries for internal consumption. This tendency is better known as “Land Grabbing”. Host countries face poverty, hunger, infrastructure, property and food security issues, reason why this enormous investments are welcome. Countries have started to benefit from this situation in a very unequal way, were mainly the developed world is getting the benefits. The low power of negotiation, corruption issues and the lack of transparency of most of the host countries has ended in contracts that favor the interests of the developed world. Capacity transfer and poverty alleviation are not coming along with the process, not helping either the host countries which now remain with their land compromised, meaning, less resources to face their problems.

Venezuela once faced a situation with its oil. The oil itself departed with the profit to foreign lands. Oil was refined afterwards in the very near islands of Curacao and Aruba. From all that process, transfer of technology and capacity building were not being made, neither profit gained. Rómulo Betancourt, a politician devoted to Venezuelan democracy and the oil topic for its national and international importance, was elected in the 60’s after struggling with dictatorships and the unfavorable conditions that the oil industry had inside the country. From the 40’s to the 60’s, he fought so that oil companies established the refineries inside national boundaries, progressively with capacity building and better share over the total profit. Once in power (1961), the OPEC was founded by him together with the titanic effort of Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, making Venezuela stand up in universal history through the generation of world agreement on oil policies, by oil countries to benefit themselves. Such effort gave Venezuela a voice and power enough, but together with countries that faced a similar reality even with very different cultures.

Land Grabbing does not necessarily have to be bad itself nor unfavorable for host nations, but it requires changes. Host countries have to gather to defend their interest effectively; otherwise, it’s likely that undesirable conditions are going to be sealed through contracts between them and the developed but food insecure nations. It’s a globalized world with globalized problems along, globalized solutions arise as a fundamental factor to help host nations to gain development and solve their own internal problems progressively.

Sources:

United Nations (2010). The Millennium Development Goals Report. Available at: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r15%20-low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf#page=8 Last consulted: 09/02/2012.

José Vicente Mestre (2011). Informe FAO: casi mil millones de personas pasan hambre cada día. Available at: http://www.suite101.net/news/informe-fao-casi-mil-millones-de-personas-pasan-hambre-cada-dia-a69930 . Last consulted: 09/02/2012.

OPEC (No Date). Brief History. Available at: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/24.htm . Last consulted 09/02/2012.

Rómulo Betancourt (2007). Venezuela, Política y Petróleo. Joint edition from Academia de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and Fundación Betancourt. Caracas, Venezuela.

Shepard Daniel with Anuradha Mitta for The Oakland Institute (2009). The Great Land Grab: Rush for World’s Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor. Available at: http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/LandGrab_final_web.pdf . Last consulted 09/02/2012.

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