Foreign Land Acquisitions in Nigeria: Forces from Above and Voices from Below
Abstract: The study is motivated by the increasing large scale Foreign Land Acquisitions (FLAs) in developing countries particularly in Africa where there is supposedly the availability of cheap land. For example, land in Zambia that happens to be the most expensive in Africa cost one-eighth the price in Argentina/Brazil, and less than one-twentieth in Germany. Out of the 1217 publicly reported deals, 62% of the projects covering a total area of 56.2 million hectares are in Africa. Some research efforts have been made to investigate the determinants of FLAs at the global level. These studies have identified a number of determinants/drivers of FLAs including: global financial/economic crises, bio-fuel policies, rising food prices, sales of certificate for reducing carbon emissions etc. However, little is known regarding the characteristics of target communities in a given country. The characteristics of the target localities can will shape the socio-economic outcomes of FLAs. This can result to “land grabs” with negative implications for affected local populations or positive impact on the socio-economic development of the host communities. Prodded with this observed gap,this study aims at providing evidence on the determinants of FLAs in Nigeria, an important receptor of FLAs. It compares and contrasts the localities where FLAs occurs. The anticipated results include: better understanding of the internal and external factors that shape FLAs; the impacts; the political economy shrouding them at the international and local level (forces from above); and insights into the effects on households in the communities (voices from below).
