The global farmland grab is far from over – there are new "hard-core" initiatives with the aim of expanding industrial agriculture, intensifying conflict around the world, according to a comprehensive dataset released by GRAIN today. The new data builds on previous research published by the non-profit organisation in 2008, which showed how a wave of land grabbing was sweeping the planet in reaction to the global food and financial crises. It documents 491 land grabbing cases across the globe and almost US$94 billion in farmland investments. The deals cover 78 countries and over 30 million hectares of land, an area roughly the size of Finland. This means that the number of land deals is continuing to grow, but growth has slowed since 2012. According to GRAIN, some of the largest deals which appeared in the investment frenzy following the 2008 food and financial crisis have since then reduced their ambitions or collapsed altogether. This has resulted in the overall decline of the number of hectares. However, the authors warn that there is no reason to celebrate: “This new research shows that, while some deals have fallen by the wayside, the global farmland grab is far from over. Rather, it is in many ways deepening, expanding to new frontiers and intensifying conflict around the world.” The new dataset shows that the remaining deals tend to embody “hard-core initiatives to expand the frontiers of industrial agriculture”. This means they are large, long-term and determined to avoid the pitfalls that earlier deals ran into. According to GRAIN, much of the Asian-led oil palm expansion in Africa, and the advance of pension funds and trade conglomerates to secure access to new farmlands, fall into this category. The researchers warn that gaining access to farmland is increasingly becoming “part of a broader corporate strategy to profit from carbon markets, mineral resources, water resources, seeds, soil and environmental services.” In particular, the last few years have seen a spectacular rise in farmland investments by pension funds. Since 2012, their number has ballooned. Some, such as the US-based TIAA-CREF, are even running their own farming operations. The new database also reveals that the global farmland grab remains as much about water as it is about land: “In many of the cases for which we have been able to see the legal agreements - as in Mali, Senegal and Cameroon - rights to water and access to water are explicitly guaranteed in the text,” says the report. But there is also cause for optimism: “One thing that has changed radically compared to eight years ago is the level of resistance and mobilisation these deals have triggered,” the authors write, “People are now more informed and taking action like never before. There are numerous coalitions and campaigns against land grabbing operating at local, national and regional levels.” (ab)