Fertile Realestate: Rich governments buy up fertile land in Africa

It appears that rich national governemnts are trying to secure future food supplies. The national governments of China, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in 2009 began purchasing and leasing large land tracks in poor central and east African/Asian states for the purpose of food production. Though these areas suffer frequent famine, and the foreign capital may provide poor farmers with much needed capital, the specific details of the deals remain secret. These moves, criticized by some as "neo-colonialist", may lead to further corruption and possible unrest in regions affected. Besides the obvious risk, this aggressive strategy does not bode well for international food prices. If national policy makers in wealthy states, especially China which already possesses a vast ammount of arable land, expect a shortage or increase in the price of food supplies, then it looks very likely the price spike in agricultural will be longterm. As we have already scene in Egypt and Libya, revolutions both sparked by increased food and energy prices, this strain on international pocket books could have far reaching political consequences. http://www.economist.com/node/13697274 by Isaac

(also blog post about chapter one of omnivore's dilemma and Walmart and Africa were posted by me)