2010-03-30
LILONGWE (Reuters) - Selling or leasing African land to foreigners for farming could lead to conflict in the future if the process is not properly managed, a senior official of the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

Some African countries including Congo, Zambia and Libya, plan to lease areas of their arable land to farmers in nations such as South Africa for growing export crops like maize.

WFP deputy executive director for hunger solutions Sheila Sisulu, told Reuters in an interview that leasing land to foreign farmers could become a source of conflict in Africa.

"Land is an emotive issue. Who does the land belong to and who has a right to lease or sell it?" Sisulu said.

"Right now people can afford to see land (being) farmed by foreigners and food being exported ... and they don't question it. But there is only so much arable land. The climate change is so uncertain. What happens when things change? This could be another source of conflict between the countries."

Sisulu said, however, the deals could work properly if they included improving farming in host countries through irrigation.

"There needs to be a principle, a code of conduct and transparency, it needs to be out in the open and not done through secret deals."

A new land deal allowing South African farmers to produce livestock, milk and fruit in Libya has been put on hold pending the finalisation of an investment protection agreement between the two countries.

South Africa is also seeking farm land in Zambia and the Congo for its farmers, the largest producer of maize in Africa.

Sisulu also said African governments should begin to subsidise their farmers, as is the case in Europe, to cut dependence on food imports and minimise the effects of food crises like the one experienced in 2008, when food prices spiked and pushed inflation up around the globe.

"If subsidies are wrong, then they should be wrong for everybody. If we say there need to be subsidies, but done in a certain way, then we need to agree on the rules."

Despite reasonable economic growth in Africa, many people still go without food and policies should change to ensure food security for all, Sisulu said.

"The challenge has been that growth has been in capital-intensive industries that do not create jobs, so people are still hungry. But strides are being made," she said.