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	African land grabs threaten food security by Worldwatch Institute & agencies   "Land grabs" hurt Africa"s ability to feed itself-study, by Christine Stebbins.   Rich countries grabbing farmland in Africa to feed their growing populations can leave rural populations there without land or jobs and make the continent"s hunger problem more severe.   The trend is accelerating as wealthier countries in the Middle East and Asia, particularly China, seek new land to plant crops, lacking enough fertile ground to meet their own food needs, Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institute said.   Worldwatch said its researchers interviewed more than 350 farmers groups, NGOs, government agencies and scientists over 17 months. The meetings, held in 25 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, addressed issues that hinder the efforts of African farmers to alleviate hunger and poverty.   "People are always saying that Africa needs to feed itself. It can"t do that if the Chinese and the Saudis are taking up the best land for production for food," Danielle Nierenberg, director of Worldwatch"s Nourishing the Planet project, told Reuters.   The International Food Policy Research Institute reports that 15 million to 20 million hectares of land in sub-Saharan Africa have been purchased by foreign investors between 2006 and mid-2009.   "There are millions more hectares that are being sold by governments that have not been documented," Nierenberg added.   In many cases, farmers whose families may have tilled the land for years are unaware the land -- owned by the government or a community-shared plot -- has been sold.   Investors claim such land deals can help alleviate the world food crisis by tapping into a country"s "unused" agricultural potential and providing poor countries with money and infrastructure developments.   The International Institute for Economic Development, World Bank, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development have issued studies on the economic possibilities of international land deals.   "If all governments capably represented the interests of their citizens, these cash-for-cropland deals might improve prosperity and food security for both sides," Robert Engelman, Worldwatch executive director, said in statement.   "But that"s not often the case. It"s critical that international institutions monitor these arrangements and find ways to block those that are one-sided or benefit only the wealthy," he said.   While Worldwatch encourages more international guidance in land deals, it said African governments themselves must be aware of the long-term impact of land grabs.   "Strengthening the role that African governments" play and making sure they are not selling off their land and undermining their own farming system is important, and that will go well beyond any international regulations," Nierenberg said. Visit the related web page
	High food prices exacerbate crisis in drought-affected Horn of Africa by United Nations News   August 2011   The prices of grains and milk in the drought-hit Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have risen to record highs, exacerbating hardship for the estimated 12.4 million people in the region who are facing severe food shortages and famine in some parts of Somalia, the United Nations reported today.   According to the August food price monitor of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the high prices of cereals such as sorghum and maize in the Horn of Africa have resulted from a combination of factors, including drought, reduced secondary season harvests earlier this year and high fuel prices that have driven up transport costs.   In Somalia, where famine has been declared in five areas in the south-central region, prices of domestically produced staples, sorghum and maize were 150 and 200 per cent higher, compared to July last year, according to the FAO report.   The prices of milk in Somalia in the southern region where some areas are experiencing famine conditions, milk prices in June were twice the levels of the similar period year earlier.   In Kenya, prices of maize, the country’s staple food, rose sharply last month, reaching new peaks. Maize prices are currently double what they were a year ago. The high prices are a consequence of a poor 2010-2011 secondary season maize production and an anticipated reduction of the 2011 main “long rains” crop, to be harvested beginning later this month, following the late onset of the rains in many areas.   In Ethiopia, the prices of maize rose again last month in most of the monitored markets, with increases from June of 23 per cent in the Bahirdar main growing area and of nine per cent in the capital, Addis Ababa.   Maize prices have been on the rise since February, and the July quotations were generally well above their levels a year earlier (from 50 to 75 per cent up), although still below the peaks reached during the 2008 food price crisis.   Prices of wheat in Ethiopia in June were 76 per cent higher than at a similar period last year. A spike in the fuel prices and transport costs has contributed to keeping food prices high. The price of diesel in Ethiopian was 69 per cent higher in June compared to a similar period last year. The price of milk, a key staple in the drought-affected pastoralist areas, has surged with the deteriorating conditions of the livestock in recent months.   In Djibouti, wheat flour prices were 67 per cent higher than a year ago and similar to the peaks of July 2008 during the global food price crisis. The sharp increase is mainly attributable to higher international wheat prices.   Internationally, the prices of wheat – which had fallen in May and June – remained 45 per cent higher than a year earlier, although they were below the 2008 peak. Export prices of maize declined somewhat in July, with the benchmark US maize price averaging $304 per ton, still 89 per cent above its level of a year ago.   Export prices of rice increased for the second consecutive month in July. The benchmark Thai rice price six percent higher than in June and 20 per cent above its level in July 2010.
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