Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, June 10, 2011

Is greed fuelling the land grab in Africa?

A U.S. think-tank is calling for a moratorium on the sale of land in Africa to hedge funds, investment firms and bio-energy companies until they begin to use ethical and fair negotiations when dealing with local farmers and villages.

The California-based Oakland Institute says that largely unregulated land purchases by hedge funds and foreign speculators result in virtually none of the “promised benefits” for native populations in a recently released report.

“We are finding these are false promises for Africa,” said Frederic Mousseau, policy director for the think-tank, in an interview with the Star.

Millions of local farmers are being forced off their land to make room for agribusiness, backed by bio-fuel companies, investment firms and hedge funds, Mousseau said. And the deals lack any transparency.

Full Article
Source: Toronto Star 
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