Joint ventures in South Africa’s land reform programme: strategic partnerships or strategic resource grab?

By Nerhene Davis & Edward Lahiff

Interoduction: Over the past three years, growing attention has been paid to the large-scale acquisition of land in developing countries by foreign investors (GRAIN 2008; von Braun and Meinzen-Dick 2009; World Bank, 2010). Vermeulen and Cotula (2010:1) report examples from across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Countries such as China, India, South Korea and the Gulf States are among those at the forefront of this type of agricultural expansion, as these countries seek new avenues to supply in their growing food and energy needs. Von Braun and Meinzen-Dick (2009) estimates that between 15 and 20 million hectares of farmland in developing countries has changed hands since 2006.