Global farmland deals now cover area the size of Finland: campaigners

[WorldNews]

By Chris Arsenault RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Global investors have spent more than $90 billion buying agricultural lands the size of Finland in deals criticized by rights groups for displacing small farmers, according to research published on Tuesday. Internationally, there are now 491 large-scale farmland deals covering territory in 78 countries, said the analysis from GRAIN, a Barcelona-based campaign group. Activists have condemned the deals as "land grabs" hurting developing countries while supporters say large-scale foreign land investments can alleviate poverty and help boost domestic farm productivity.

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