In some of the world's poorest countries, where people are starving, rich nations and companies are buying up farmland to grow food and fuel for themselves and their paying customers (see page 8). Obscene? Well it's happening now, and is likely to happen more. As demand for food grows, those who have the necessary funds are snapping up vast swathes of land to ensure their own security. Millions of hectares of grain, rice, maize and biofuel plantations could follow oil and water resources by becoming a new friction point for conflict - not least with the locals who arernkept locked outside rich farms' gates. The wars over oil of the recent past will pale in comparison to the global struggle for food that could result from the land grabs going on now.rnIt is clear what is needed. The rich countries and corporations investing in land abroad must at least share their technology with local people and build an agricultural infrastructure so that they benefit too. It should not be too much to ask. Ensuring an equitable distribution of the wealth derived from the land ultimately serves everyone's interests.
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