2003 : Any better solution to solve the problems of hunger and malnutrition than a community garden or family gardens for the local people (Photo WVC)
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Read at :
http://www.africanagricultureblog.com/2011/03/agricultural-investment-in-africa.html
Agricultural investment in Africa growing as world food prices rise
Rory Jones
Middle East investors are ploughing increasing amounts of cash into African farmland as global concerns over food security continue to rise.
Saudi Star Agricultural Development, a food company based in Ethiopia and owned by the Ethiopian-Saudi billionaire Mohammed al Amoudi, announced plans this month to invest US$2.5 billion (Dh9.18bn) in an Ethiopian rice-farming project.
The commitment comes just weeks after the Saudi company Manafea Holding announced it would invest $125 million in Zambia, in part to develop a pineapple farm and build a fruit-processing plant.
Nicholas Lodge, the managing partner of Clarity, a new financial and agriculture consultancy in Abu Dhabi, says agricultural investment in Africa is growing.
“You are going to see more investment from the Middle East,” Mr Lodge said. “Qatar and the UAE have been doing the same [as Saudi Arabia] at a government and company level.”
The UN’s food price index hit a record peak last month at 236 points, up 34 per cent from a year earlier.
The sharp increases in commodity prices continue to drive up food prices across the Middle East, prompting governments and companies to try to cut costs by buying directly from commodities producers.
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