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Land ‘Grabs’ Expand To Europe As Big Business Blocks Entry To Farming
Land rights not just issue for developing world as report shows public subsidies help a few firms ‘grab’ vast tracts of EU land John Vidal guardian.co.uk , Wednesday 17 April 2013 17.19 BST Farmers harvest grain in Chernigov. In Ukraine, 10 giant agro-holdings now control about 2.8m hectares. Photograph: Genia Savilov/AFP/Getty Images Vast tracts of land in Europe are being “grabbed” by large companies, speculators, wealthy foreign buyers and pension funds in a similar way to in developing countries, according to a major new report . Chinese corporations, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and hedge funds, as well as Russian oligarchs and giant agribusiness have all stepped up land acquisitions in the past decade in a process that the report says is preventing ordinary people farming, and concentrating agriculture and land wealth in few hands. According to research by the Transnational Institute , Via Campesina and others, half of all farmland in the EU is now concentrated in the 3% of large farms that are more than 100 hectares (247 acres) in size. In some EU countries, land ownership is as unequal as it is in Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines. Although peasant farmers and smallholders have been moving off the land for decades, speculators and commodity crop farmers are taking over vast tracts of land, says the 200-page report. This is seen widely in former Soviet states, say the 25 authors in 11 countries. In Ukraine, 10 giant agro-holdings now control about 2.8m hectares. One oligarch alone controls more than 500,000 hectares. Chinese companies have moved into Bulgaria on a large scale and Middle Eastern companies are now major producers in Romania. The concentration of land ownership is speeding up. In Germany, 1.2m land holdings in 1966-67 shrank to just 299,100 farms by 2010. Of these, the land area covered by farms of less than two hectares shrank from 123,670 hectares in 1990 to just 20,110 in 2007. In Italy, 33,000 farms now cover 11m hectares, and in France more than 60,000 hectares of agricultural land are lost each year to make space for roads, supermarkets and urban growth. In Andalusia, Spain, the number of farms has dropped by more than two-thirds to under 1m in 2007. In 2010, 2% of landowners owned half of the land. None of the new research was done in Britain, which has some of the highest concentrations of land ownership anywhere in the world, with 70% of land reportedly owned by less than 1% of the population . “This is an unprecedented dynamic of land concentration and creeping land grabbing. It has worsened the existing situation where many young people want to stay in or take up farming but cannot maintain or gain access to land,” said Professor Dr Jan Douwe van der Ploeg of Wageningen University, a member of the research team. The authors argue that the “land grab” has been fuelled by the common agricultural policy (CAP), which distributes one-third of all EU subsidies to farmers each year, but the funds have been captured by large-scale farmers. “In Italy in 2011, 0.29% of farms accessed 18% of total CAP incentives, and 0.0001 of these, or 150 farms, cornered 6% of all subsidies. In Spain, 75% of all the subsidies were taken by just 16% of the largest farmers. In Hungary in 2009, 8.6% of farms cornered 72% of all agricultural subsidies,” said Van der Ploeg. “The three most pressing land issues in Europe today are land concentration, land grabbing and inability of young people to maintain or gain access to land to enter sustainable farming – interlinked, triangular land issues quite similar to the ones we see in Africa, Latin America and Asia today.” The report suggests that, as in many developing countries, there is strong opposition to land “grabbing” in Europe. There have been reports of communities occupying land. In Andalusia, landless farmers are occupying land collectively and cultivating it. In Vienna, young people are squatting on fertile urban land. “Land needs to be seen again as a public good. We must reduce the commodification of land and instead promote public management of this common resource on which we all depend,” said Jeanne Verlinden of the European Co-ordination Via Campesina. “Priority should be given to the use of land for smallholder and peasant agriculture and food production, rather than handing over land to those private property commercial interests.” Continue reading
No Wealth Tax On Farm Land, Says Chidambaram
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The Hindu Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Minister relaxed tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday allayed apprehensions over the imposition of wealth tax on agricultural land within urban area limits to provide a big relief to farmers, especially in Haryana and Punjab. Mr. Chidambaram relaxed the tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors routing funds through countries such as Mauritius and lowered the withholding tax rate to five per cent from 20 per cent on interest payments on investments by non-residents in long-term infrastructure bonds and corporate debts. In his brief speech while moving the Finance Bill, 2013 for approval by the Lok Sabha, which took place without any debate in view of the Opposition walk out and paucity of time, Mr. Chidambaram, however, held firm on introduction of the Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT), arguing that derivatives trading in commodities would no longer be considered a speculative transaction when the new levy is imposed. The Minister also did not entertain the automobile industry’s plea for rolling back the excise duty hike on SUVs, proposed in the budget, from 27 per cent to 30 per cent. In view of the apprehensions of farmers, especially in Punjab and Haryana, and the notices already issued to such land-holders which were promptly sought to be utilised by non-UPA parties ahead of the general elections next year, Mr. Chidambaram was quick to clarify that there was never any intention of levying wealth tax on agriculture land. “There was apprehension that wealth tax was being imposed on agricultural land. Let me make it absolutely clear that the policy of the UPA government is not to impose wealth tax on agriculture land,” the Finance Minister said and credited Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders for drawing the Centre’s attention to the issue. The apprehensions were on account of the Punjab and Haryana High Court rulings, Mr. Chidambaram said and noted that he worked hard on Monday to prepare the amendment and obtain the President’s approval. “The matter should come to an end,” he said while asserting that urban land does not include agriculture land which “is so declared in government records.” In a further explanation on the issue after approval of the Finance Bill 2013 by the Lok Sabha, Mr. Chidambaram said: “As the wealth tax is levied only on unproductive assets, there was no intention to levy wealth tax on the agricultural land which cannot be termed unproductive assets”. It also noted that wealth tax is not leviable on urban land which is “classified as agricultural land in the records of the government; and used for agricultural purposes.” The proposed amendment would take effect retrospectively from April 1, 1993, he said. On another proposal to impose TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) at one per cent on transfer of immoveable property of over Rs. 50 lakh, Mr. Chidambaram said the person needing to deduct tax would not be required to obtain TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number). “…in order to be helpful to the person who is required to deduct the tax, we are dispensing with the requirement of obtaining a TAN. He need not have a TAN but he must deduct the tax,” Mr. Chidambaram told the House. Later clarifying on the issue, the Minister said: “In order to reduce the compliance burden on the deductor, deducting tax under section 194-IA (I-T Act), it is proposed to insert a new sub-section… to provide that the provisions of section 203A shall not apply to a person required to deduct tax in accordance with the provisions of new section 194-IA”. Mr. Chidambaram assured the House that he had rectified the provisions relating to one per cent tax on cash sale of bullion or jewellery to prevent misuse of the provisions of the I- Act. “There was an exclusion in parenthesis [relating to coin or article weighing less than 10 gms]…that exclusion was giving opportunity for misuse. That exclusion has now been withdrawn,” he said. Continue reading
Open Data + Agriculture Can Transform How Farmers Respond to Looming Crises
April 26, 2013 In Uganda, a team used the Ureport system to gather real-time data and track the spread of banana bacterial wilt. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Open data combined with agricultural knowledge, remote sensing, and mapping can support advice and early warnings for farmers. That information can be critical to protecting crops from pests and extreme weather, increasing yields, monitoring water supplies, and anticipating changes brought on by climate change. The G8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture will explore opportunities for open data and knowledge sharing, particularly in Africa. Across Uganda’s banana plantations, a devastating infection has been attacking the fruit, killing off entire crops and threatening food security. There are prevention methods to keep banana bacterial wilt (BBW) at bay, but the government faced a challenge: how to pinpoint the most vulnerable regions of the country and get prevention and treatment information into the hands of growers. A team from the World Bank found an answer in open data built and spread by ICTs – information and communication technologies. The project tapped into a system called Ureport – a network of 190,000+ volunteers across Uganda who use mobile technology to report on various issues of interest to UNICEF. Within days, the team was able to leverage Ureport to raise awareness, visualize the spread of the bacteria, and disseminate symptom descriptions and treatment options. More than 52,000 U-reporters either provided information about BBW, requested information, or both via SMS over the five days this spring. “What Ureport made possible was not only information dissemination or data gathering, but a nationwide conversation focused on a critical issue for Ugandans,” Lyudmila Bujoreanu, a World Bank ICT policy specialist, writes in a blog post describing the quick response in Uganda. It also provided an example of fast data collection through ICTs that can help decision makers visualize crises as they develop and show them where and how best to respond. Similar data has been feeding into open data collections that today are using history, scientific knowledge, mapping, remote sensing, and real-time data collection to inform decisions and provide agriculture advice and warnings around the globe. Exploring open data opportunities for agriculture On April 29-30, the G8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture will bring together U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte, and experts in the field to explore more opportunities for open data and knowledge sharing that can help farmers and governments in Africa and around the globe protect their crops from pests and extreme weather, increase their yields, monitor water supplies, and anticipate changes brought on by climate change. “We are already seeing the immense benefits of open data across the globe, but no more so than in Africa, and, specifically, agriculture data provides some of the most promise,” said Chris Vein, senior manager for ICT at the World Bank. “Imagine creating the ability for farmers to use open data to understand what crops grow best where, or what prices can be expected after harvest, or how best to solve weather, blight or other challenges to yield. Open data combined with other tools such as cellular phones can do just that,” Vein said. “Through the World Bank’s Open Development work, we are helping countries understand the potential value of their data, unlock that value by letting entrepreneurs inside and outside government use it, and create the tools necessary to empower citizens.” The expansion of open data on global agriculture is being built, in part, around a global strategy led by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and other foundations and organizations. The strategy, which aims to improve agricultural and rural statistics, starts with a minimum set of core data that countries will collect to meet current and emerging demands and improve agricultural sustainability. Country-level agricultural data collection practices and standards are still developing in many regions. For example, just two of 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are considered to have high standards in data collection, according to the FAO. Organizations such as the Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building (TFSCB) and the African Development Bank are working now to build up that capacity by improving national statistical systems and creating information technology platforms for African countries to convert or store their data for future access. Other groups are putting open agriculture data to use in analyses and visualizations, often using geographic information systems, that can help practitioners target areas in need. For example: The Agriculture Market Information System, created by the G20 and supported by the World Bank, uses open data to monitor and analyze key markets for wheat, maize, rice and soybeans. Its information helped inform responses and decisions during the 2012 drought. Members of the agriculture research consortium CGIAR, supported by the Bank, also host a trove of open data, maps, and data visualizations. The Arab Spatial Development and Food Security Atlas, for example, maps land degradation, irrigated land, crop value, and other data across the Arab region. The Food Security Portal tracks price volatility, and HarvestChoice maps a series of agriculture indicators. The World Bank’s Open Data Initiative provides access to the Bank’s vast and constantly growing datasets of key development indicators and visualizations, including data relevant to agriculture, such as changes in rainfall and climate change risk. The conference will be streamed live online April 29 and 30 through the G8 International Conference on Open Data for Agriculture website and on the World Bank’s ICT site. Continue reading
