Land Grab Conference

The first Africa Conference on Land Grab 2014 is currently underway in Midrand, Johannesburg. The conference brings together speakers and panelists who will be presenting papers and discussions which focus on the challenges and advantages of the sale and the lease of arable land t o powerful individuals and foreign corporate. Over the last three years, seventy million hectares of Africa’s arable land has been either bought or leased to foreign companies. Often these large scale transactions are carried out under the appearance of efforts against food insecurity and creating jobs for African citizen. To look at this conference, Benjamin Moshatama spoke to Dr Blessing Karumbidza, senior research associate at the Durban University of Technology, Elijah Agnew Mbwavi, Director of Regio Development Africa at Regional Development Solutions and Michael O’Brien Oyenka, (Executive Director of Green Peace Africa)