August 2012 Sugarcane and the global land grab: A ... - Sucre Ethique

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6According to the World Bank, almost all of the expansion in Brazil took place on convertedpastureland (66%) and agricultural land (32%). However, they also note that 2% came fromconverting natural vegetation – equivalent to over 80,000 hectares over the last decade –and that the industry’s growth had “probably put pressure on pasture expansion further northto the Cerrado and the Amazon biome” leading to new grazing lands being cleared. 12We want to use ourwithdrawal [from buyingcane from contested land]as a good example forother companies to follow.We are committed torespecting indigenousland declared by theMinistry of Justice.Spokesperson for Raizen,quoted by SurvivalThe social impacts of this growth have been seen in thecontinued separation of indigenous people – such as thedifferent Guaraní tribes – from their ancestral land. In somecases commercial landowners and also municipalityofficials have contested its demarcation as Guaraní land,despite such decisions being authorised by Brazil’s FederalPublic Prosecutor’s Office, its Ministry of Justice and itsIndian Affairs Agency (FUNAI). Related to this, sugarcaneexpansion has led to a large increase in land prices instates such as São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. Thishas made it more expensive for the government to acquireland for the restoration of indigenous settlements. 13However, some companies – like the joint company set upby Shell and Cosan called Raizen – have responded topressure over this situation by stopping purchases of canefrom land declared as indigenous. They have also vowed toconsult FUNAI to avoid further investment or expansion inconflict areas that could be recognised as indigenous landin the future. 14The other important piece of data to take from Figure 2 is the huge percentage increase inland under cane in Mozambique. Classified as a Least Developed Country (LDC) by theUnited Nations, Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world. The acute need forinvestment and weak governance systems typically found in LDCs creates conditions inwhich corruption and unaccountability can flourish. Thus land acquisitions in these countriesare monitored especially closely by outside observers.As Figure 3 shows, many other LDCs have also undergone a rapid conversion of land tocane. In Zambia, Uganda and Cambodia, the sugarcane industry has at least doubled in(physical) size within the last decade and continues to grow still. Many deals were initiatedafter 2008 – for reasons explained below – and it is in this ‘land rush’ that many of the mostegregious cases of land grabbing have been reported. For example, in Uganda it has beenalleged that the Madhvani Group, one of the biggest companies in the country and theowners of Kakira Sugar, have benefitted from their close ties with President YoweriMuseveni who effectively bypassed parliament to push through a bill allocating 40,000hectares of land to the company. 1512 Klaus W. Deininger and Derek Byerlee (2010) Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable andEquitable Benefits? (Washington DC: World Bank), p.19.13 Sergio Sauer and Sergio Pereira Leite (2011) ‘Agrarian Structure, Foreign Land Ownership and Land Value inBrazil’, paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing hosted by the Land DealsPolitics Initiative at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, 6-8 April 2011.14 Survival International (2012) ‘Shell Scrapes Controversial Biofuels Plan after Brazilian Indian Protests’,Survival International News, 13 June 2012.15 Black Star News (2012) ‘Uganda: Museveni’s and Madhvani Group’s Acholi Land Grab would amount toSecond Genocide’, Black Star News, 12 February 2012.EthiclETHICALSUGAR
US$/100 litresUS cents/lb7Figure 3: Growth in sugarcane area in Least Developed Countries, 2000-2010Rank Country Area in 2000(hectares)Area in 2010(hectares)HectareincreasePercentageincrease17 Zambia 15,000 38,500 23,500 157%18 Uganda 20,000 40,000 20,000 100%23 Cambodia 7,480 17,072 9,592 128%Source: Author calculated from FAO statisticsWhat is driving land acquisition?Toward the end of the 2000s, the notion of a ‘triple crisis’ in the world economyencompassing fuel, food and finance began to gain currency. In different ways, each ofthese factors has also fed into the increase in large-scale land acquisition.Turning first to fuel, the fears over the long-term stability of oil prices have convinced manythat a substitute energy source for transport is needed. Biofuels have been touted as thatalternative. As shown in Figure 4, the world market price of ethanol (the biofuel made fromcrops like sugarcane and maize) has been on an upward trend during the last decade.Although most biofuel is consumed domestically, where different pricing structures exist, thegraph is indicative of the general price increase across markets. In Brazil for example, theprice for 100l of ethanol increased from R$57 in 2000 to R$102 in 2010. 16Figure 4: World price of ethanol and sugar, 2000-20107060504030201002000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010302520151050EthanolSugarSource: Author calculated from OECD-FAO data.16 OECD-FAO (2012) OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2012-2021 Database. Available at:http://www.oecd.org/site/oecd-faoagriculturaloutlook/EthiclETHICALSUGAR
Page 1 and 2: Ethical-SugarAugust 2012Sugarcane a
Page 3 and 4: 3Introduction“Buy land, they’re
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Page 9 and 10: 9Pull as well as push: the role of
Page 11 and 12: 11also “capitalizing on its locat
Page 13 and 14: 13rather than allowing people to st
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Page 17 and 18: 17receive no directly payable rent.
Page 19 and 20: 19Box 3: Land restrictions in Brazi
Page 21 and 22: 21There are, of course, some risks

August 2012 Sugarcane and the global land grab: A ... - Sucre Ethique

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