Positive investment alternatives to large-scale land acquisitions or leases
►http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/20711
Adopting a political economy and rights based approach, this paper examines a range of positive alternative investments which strengthen the right to food, re-valorise agricultural work, and build up ecological capital. In all of these it is small-scale farmers who are the main protagonists, if not the main investors. Rather than seeking to discipline large-scale land acquisitions or leases through voluntary codes of conduct, it is these positive alternative investments that need strengthening. States can play a constructive role here through supportive public policies. A broader social movement based on the principles of food sovereignty and agrarian reform can help in moving the debate beyond the defence of land towards a realization of the conditions necessary to sustain farming futures.