Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres »

The document analyzes the surge of foreign direct investment in African farmland and water, often termed 'land grabbing', highlighting the systemic lack of transparency and the violation of local land rights. It identifies three types of investors—food-insecure states, agribusinesses, and financial speculators—and examines the legal frameworks that often prioritize investor protections over community rights. The report advocates for a parliamentary role in ensuring social inclusion, promoting inclusive business models, and implementing the Maputo Declaration's agricultural goals. It concludes with a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on large-scale land acquisitions until a proper governance framework is established.

• Large-scale land acquisitions in Africa have reached significant proportions, with the World Bank reporting 32 million hectares acquired in 2009 alone, while the International Land Coalition estimates 50 million hectares have been allocated to investors in recent years.
• Foreign investment is increasingly driven by the need for water resources, leading to the 'virtual' export of African water to countries with scarce resources; for example, importing one ton of wheat can save approximately 1,300 cubic meters of local water.
• Three distinct categories of investors are active in Africa: food-insecure states (particularly in the Gulf and Asia) using sovereign wealth funds, traditional Western agribusinesses, and financial sector actors (banks, hedge funds, pension funds) engaging in speculative activities.
• Investment projects are often highly speculative; evidence from Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, and Tanzania indicates that less than 12% of the land acquired by investors has actually been put into production.
• Foreign investments frequently violate land rights and lack transparency, with agreements often signed in secret. Investors typically target countries with inadequate land laws to exploit the power asymmetry between high-level legal experts and uneducated local farmers.
• Women are disproportionately affected by land acquisitions due to weaker land rights and exclusion from community consultations, which reduces their capacity to produce subsistence food.
• Legal protections for investors often override national laws through 'stabilization clauses' in contracts and Investor-State arbitration mechanisms in bilateral treaties, which can prevent states from introducing new environmental or labor laws.
• Progress on the 2003 Maputo Declaration's goal to allocate 10% of national budgets to agriculture is uneven; while the average for African countries is 6.5%, seven countries—Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Niger, and Ethiopia—have met or exceeded the target.
• Inclusive business models, such as joint ventures and contract farming, are proposed as alternatives to large-scale acquisitions to ensure a more equitable distribution of capital and better protection of local resources.
• The Pan-African Parliament proposes a draft resolution that includes calling for a moratorium on new large-scale land acquisitions until a proper governance framework is established.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2011). Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres ». https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_fr.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres ». 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_fr.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres » |date=October 2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_fr.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2011comment, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Comment investir efficacement en Afrique: Réponse parlementaire à « l’accaparement des terres »}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/land_grabs_africa_fr.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }