It has been several years since private investors and states began buying and leasing millions of hectares of farmland worldwide in order to secure their domestic supply of food, raw commodities, and biofuels, or to get subsidies for carbon storage through plantations. Western investors, including Wall Street banks and hedge funds, now view direct investments in land as a safe haven in an otherwise turbulent financial climate.
许多年以来，私人投资者以及各个国家一直在全世界范围内购买和租赁数百万公顷的农地，以确保自身粮食，初级产品以及生物燃料的供应，又或者是用大规模种植来换取“碳储存”补贴。而包括华尔街银行和对冲基金在内的西方投资者则把对土地的直接投资视为当前动荡金融环境中的避险天堂。