Who’s Investing Where


Origin of investors


Africa


Asia Latin America Europe North America Oceania Western Asia


and recently a visiting researcher at IFPRI, conducted an in-depth case study of a Norwegian company that leased land in Ghana to grow jatropha for biofuel production. Te company asserted that its project would benefit women specifically, but Wisborg’s study found otherwise.


Te first consultations with the local community consisted predominantly of meetings with local chiefs. “Women had less power than men to influence the early negotiations—after all, women are exclud- ed from the chiefly institutions in Ghana,” says Wisborg. Te project did create some jobs, but men tended to get the full-time, permanent positions while women were hired mostly as temporary day labor.


In addition, says Wisborg, “when land uses were affected by the project, these


disproportionately hurt women.” For example, the Norwegian company cut down many trees during land clearing, but it pledged to protect certain species, such as shea nut trees, which are highly valued by West African women for use in food, medicines, and cosmetics. Once the other trees were gone, however, local charcoal producers started harvesting the shea nut trees, and many were lost.


Te power imbalance between govern- ments and investors on one side and poor, rural communities on the other is a crucial factor. In a recent journal article, “Te Gender Implications of Large- Scale Land Deals,” IFPRI researchers Julia Behrman, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, and Agnes Quisumbing point out that developing-country governments alone


often cannot be relied on to enforce rules in favor of local people.


According to Michael Taylor, program manager for Global Policy and Africa at the ILC, “Te negative outcomes result from the context in which these invest- ments take place: poor governance, poor democracy, poor regulations and policies on land use, and a poor view of small farmers compared with large-scale com- mercial farming operations.”


Protecting citizens’ rights in land deals of- ten requires help from the media, farmers’ organizations, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, and community organizations. Tese groups can put pressure on governments and help communities advocate for their rights.


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