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kiteflyer
Joined: 27 Jan 2008
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 Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:46 am Post subject: Daewoo secures 1.3 hectares of Madag--sees food as a weapon |
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"Daewoo Logistics is a subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate Daewoo Corporation. In November 2008, world media reported that it was securing rights to 1.3 million hectares of farmland in Madagascar � half the country�s arable soils. The company intends to produce corn for export back to Korea. Daewoo said the deal is meant to assure Korea�s food security. They described food as a weapon, and boasted that their job was to be able to ship food to Korea in case of crisis. A lot of people around the world were shocked by this news and called it neocolonialism."
Here�s the full article at Grain.org: http://www.grain.org/videos/?id=194 |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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mhhh
The government sold it to them .... they didn't just walk in and take it ... |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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| This certainly seems like an issue for Korean farmers, however. There's one thing for Korean consumers to choose Madagascar food products. Its another for the government to subsidize Madagascar's food products at the expense of domestic products. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:35 am Post subject: |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7878439.stm
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Madagascar's opposition, which had seemed to be running out of steam, is likely to be given fresh impetus by the shooting dead of 28 of its supporters on Saturday.
The government now has blood on its hands.
Such bloodshed is not unheard of in Madagascar but it is rare.
The tragedies of recent weeks could have acted as a wake-up call for the president, who has become increasingly isolated from his people.
Now though, public support for him is likely to shrink still further without there being any practical alternative to replace him.
Andry Rajoelina at a rally in Antananarivo, 2 Feb
Madagascar's 'militant mayor'
The damage to Madagascar's international reputation could be equally harmful.
Under President Ravalomanana the country had been taking its first tentative steps into the global market after decades of socialist stagnation.
Multinational corporations including Rio Tinto and Exxon Mobil have arrived, pouring millions of dollars into government coffers.
The president himself has seen his own business interests - anything from dairy products to cooking oil - rise and rise.
However, in appealing to foreign investors the government alienated many Malagasy people.
Food and fuel have become more expensive whilst the foreign funds have not improved the quality of life for most people.
President Ravalomanana's reputation in the eyes of his critics has not been helped by his aggressive business approach and the fact that as his wealth continued to grow, the population was becoming poorer.
Proud
The final straw for many was the mooted plan to lease one million acres in the south of the country to the Korean firm Daewoo for intensive farming. |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:01 am Post subject: |
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| The land most probably won't be used efficiently otherwise so I don't see the harm in them at least making some money by leasing it out. |
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