Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Land in developing countries

56Regarding the principles of international code ofconduct, the overwhelming view was that theseprinciples should have a flexible mechanism formonitoring and consider country-specific circumstances.Fundamental principles should cover:• “Land and Resource Rights: Existing rights toland and natural resources are recognised andrespected.• Food Security: Investments do not jeopardisefood security, but rather strengthen it.• Transparency, Good Governance and EnablingEnvironment: Processes for accessing land andmaking associated investments are transparent,monitored and ensure accountability.• Consultation and Participation: Those materiallyaffected are consulted and agreements fromconsultations are recorded and enforced.• Economic viability and responsible agro-enterpriseinvesting: Projects are viable economically,respect the rule of law, reflect industry bestpractice, and result in durable shared value.• Social Sustainability: Investments generatedesirable social and distributional impacts anddo not increase vulnerability.• Environmental Sustainability: Environmentalimpacts are quantified and measures taken toencourage sustainable resource use, whileminimising and mitigating them negativeimpact.” (Government of Japan, World Bank,FAO, IFAD, UNCTAD 2009).Furthermore, the need for additional research andanalysis on the extent, nature and impact oflarge-scale investments in agriculture is underlined.Likewise the Federal Ministry for EconomicCooperation and Development (2009) has designedsix basic principles in order to be able tomake use of the possible opportunities andpotential of foreign investments in land.While the analysis of FDI in land reveals risks andopportunities, the case studies conducted for thisreport also disclose the difficulties in achieving anempirical, comprehensive overview of the actualimpacts. The lack of transparency as well as thecomplexity of the subject aggravates the analysis.There is need to further gather and distributeinformation covering the general conditions andthe interests of the involved actors as well as on thenegotiation process and the impact on localsustainable development. The impacts (economic,social and environmental) of FDI in land – eitherpositive or negative – need to be monitored andpublished, so that interventions can take place ifnegative impacts are observed. Furthermore,capacity development in target countries may helpthose countries negotiate more favourable contractsthat bring in line the interests of the investorwith the needs of the target country.