Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Daewoo Leases African Plantation

Daewoo, a South Korean firm, has released plans to lease one million acres of land in Madagascar for 99 years. The land, which is half the size of Belgium, will be used for corn production in hopes of cutting South Korea’s reliance on US imports. Daewoo hopes to produce 5 million tons for corn by 2023 using all local help. Palm oil will also be grown on another 300,000 acres that the company plans on leasing.

Countries in Asian have been trying to ensure food supplies, after prices soared this past year. Daewoo also has a 50,000-acre farm in Indonesia.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, whose land is not fit for crops, is also seeking agricultural investments in Africa and Asia. Many African countries like Angola and Ethiopia have expressed interest in foreign investment in this sector.

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2 comments:

  1. Vance BrownDecember 10, 2008 at 3:27 PM

    This is very interesting. I would expect more ventures like this in the future. There is a lot of potential in Africa. First China started investing. Then Japan, and now South Korea. But I have never seen anything like this since colonialism.

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  2. Duy NguyenDecember 10, 2008 at 10:27 PM

    I Think while it is good news for developing countries, it is not for the U.S. If many countries that are importing agricultural goods from the U.S start doing this, U.S net export, and subsequently GDP, will be decreased significantly.

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