BSR Insight | Closer Look: Understanding Land Deals in Africa
The International Institute for Environment and Development's new guide to understanding land deals in Africa explores the significant impacts land contracts have on agriculture and food security in recipient countries. Land contracts define the terms of an investment project, and particularly how risks, costs, and benefits are distributed and who has the authority to sign the contract and through what process.
An analysis of 12 land deals revealed that current contracts—which often grant long-term rights to land and water, promise little revenue and jobs in return, and do not properly address social and environmental issues—often leave local communities with the burdens of costs and few of the benefits of the investments.
The report encourages public scrutiny on issues such as the:
- extent to which landholders have control over key decisions affecting their land, and the extent to which the public can hold governments and investors accountable
- economic fairness between the investor and the host country
- distribution of risks, costs, and benefits within the host country
- degree of integration of environmental considerations
Topics
Civil & Political Rights, Community Engagement & Development, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Energy, Governance & Accountability, Mining, Stakeholder Relations, Strategy & Integration, Supply Chain
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