Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras”

The document details the consequences of a surge in foreign land acquisitions in Africa, driven by global food and energy demands. It highlights the erosion of local land rights, lack of transparency in contracts, and the marginalization of women. It proposes a parliamentary roadmap including land reform, mandatory community consent, and a potential moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions to ensure investments benefit local populations.

• A significant wave of foreign investment in African agricultural land and water was triggered in 2008 by factors including biofuel demand in Europe and North America, oil price spikes, and global food and financial crises. The World Bank reported that land deals in Africa increased by over 32 million hectares in 2009 alone, with the largest allocations occurring in Sudan (4 million hectares), Mozambique (2.7 million hectares), Liberia (1.6 million hectares), and Ethiopia (between 1.3 and 3.6 million hectares).
• Foreign investments often undermine local land and water rights because most African land is state-owned, leaving local users with vague or non-existent legal rights. This leads to the displacement of populations, including pastoralists and itinerant farmers, even in countries like Mozambique where legal community titles exist. Furthermore, investors prioritize water resources, creating competition with local users and reducing water availability for domestic and agricultural use.
• There is a critical lack of transparency and a power imbalance in negotiations. Many contracts are signed in secret, and investors often target countries with weak land laws. While some countries like Liberia publish all concessions and contracts online, others, such as Tanzania, have seen governments remain reluctant to provide contracts to parliamentarians.
• Land acquisitions have a disproportionately negative impact on women, who typically have weaker occupancy rights and are marginalized from decision-making and community consultations. Displacement increases pressure on their land rights and undermines their role as primary food producers for subsistence, especially in the context of climate change impacts like floods and droughts.
• Investors frequently fail to deliver promised benefits such as job creation, technology transfer, and infrastructure development. In some cases, such as in Ghana, promised employment did not materialize. Additionally, many investments are highly speculative; for example, Oxfam studies in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, and Tanzania suggest that less than 12% of acquired land has been put into production.
• Legal frameworks for foreign investment often prioritize investor interests over local rights through 'stabilization clauses' in contracts and international bilateral investment treaties. These can prevent host governments from implementing new domestic environmental or labor laws without paying compensation to the investor.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2011). Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras”. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_es.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras”. 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras” |date=October 2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_es.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2011logrando, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Logrando que las inversiones trabajen para África: Una Respuesta Parlamentaria al “Acaparamiento de Tierras”}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }