Necessary Nuance: Toward a Code of Conduct in Foreign Land Deals Ruth Meinzen-Dick Senior Research Fellow International Food Policy Research Institute

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Background Government or private investors Accelerated by 2008 food price increases, lack of confidence in world food trade million ha since 2006 Terraced rice farming in Madagascar--Time

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Opportunities Increased investment in agriculture Farm and off-farm jobs Development of rural infrastructure Schools and health posts Resources for new agricultural technologies Future global price stability due to increased production, Possible increased food availability in host country

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Threats Uneven playing field in negotiations Inability to enforce agreed compensation Eviction, loss of land Environmental problems of large-scale agriculture

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Questions to Ask on Cases Current land use, users Current land tenure Proposed land use patterns Livelihoods for local people Food security Ecological conditions Terms of agreement (expropriation < sale < rental < contract farming) Transparency, local involvement in negotiations Enforceability

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Elements of a Code of Conduct Transparency in negotiations Respect for existing land rights, including customary and common property rights Sharing of benefits Environmental sustainability Adherence to national trade policies

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Institutional Requirements International system to enforce code in investor country as well as host Governments to monitor, safeguard local people’s rights Media to increase transparency Civil society to keep pressure against unjust expropriation