Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes

The document examines how foreign agricultural investments in Africa exacerbate water stress and the legal tensions between investor rights and the human right to water. It highlights the vulnerability of customary water rights compared to statutory contracts and the potential for investment treaties to limit a state's ability to reallocate water during shortages. The authors recommend integrating international human rights and environmental law into domestic legislation and investment contracts to ensure sustainable water governance.

• Foreign farmland investments in Africa are heavily concentrated around major river basins, increasing the strain on water resources already affected by population growth and climate change.
• Climate change is reducing the availability of rain-fed agricultural land in Africa, with arid and semi-arid land potentially increasing by 60 million to 90 million hectares.
• There is a significant gap in the monitoring and regulation of water use by foreign investors, with many states lacking the capacity to enforce water acts beyond the initial project approval stage.
• Local communities are legally vulnerable because their customary, unwritten water rights are typically superseded by the formal statutory rights granted to foreign investors through contracts.
• Investment contracts often fail to explicitly address water fees or allocation revisions, and the use of stabilization clauses can prevent host states from updating regulatory frameworks for sustainable water management.
• International investment treaties may restrict a host state's ability to reallocate water during droughts due to standards such as fair and equitable treatment and the prohibition of expropriation without compensation.
• While international freshwater and environmental laws require states to 'do no harm' and conduct transboundary environmental impact assessments, these obligations have had little tangible impact on agricultural investments in Africa to date.

APA

Mbengue, M. M., Waltman, S., & Turley, L. (2016). Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/investing-land-water-converging-legal-regimes.pdf

Chicago

Mbengue, Makane Moïse, Susanna Waltman, and Laura Turley. Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/investing-land-water-converging-legal-regimes.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mbengue |first1=Makane Moïse |last2=Waltman |first2=Susanna |last3=Turley |first3=Laura |title=Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=July 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/investing-land-water-converging-legal-regimes.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mbengue2016investing, author = {Mbengue, Makane Moïse and Waltman, Susanna and Turley, Laura}, title = {{Investing in Land for Water: The converging legal regimes}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/investing-land-water-converging-legal-regimes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }