External Capitalist Forces Wreak Havoc in Africa | agricultural “land grabbing” | Project Censored
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/7-external-capitalist-forces-wreak-havoc-in-africa/
7. External Capitalist Forces Wreak Havoc in Africa
Resource exploitation in Africa is not new, but the scale of agricultural “land grabbing” in African nations is unprecedented, becoming the new colonization of the twenty-first century. State violence against Kenyan indigenous pastoralists and Nigerian civilians in oil-rich regions has heightened, leaving thousands dead as the military burns whole communities to the ground and police commit extrajudicial killings, rapes, beatings, thefts, arson, and
intimidation.
Student Researchers:
Amanda Olson and Michelle Sewell (Sonoma State University)
Delana Colvin, Shannon Cree, and Anna Kung (DePauw University)
Faculty Evaluators:
Mandy Henk and Kevin Howley (DePauw University)
Mickey Huff (Diablo Valley College)
Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University)
The African land grab
In the midst of a severe food and economic crisis, the “land grabbing” trend has grown to an international phenomenon. The term refers to the purchase or lease of vast tracts of land by wealthier, food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing countries in order to produce crops for export. Approximately 180 instances of such land transactions have been reported since mid-2008, as nations attempt to extend their control over food-producing lands and investors attempt to turn a profit in biofuels and soft commodities markets.
