Malawi's Green Belt Initiative aims to offer land to local and
international investors, in order to increase agricultural
production, productivity, incomes and food security. But it may
also be facilitating 'land grabs' from smallholder farmers. This
new Policy Brief (pdf) looks at the political economy of the GBI
in Malawi, and finds some important concerns about the way it is
organised and its effects. These include a lack of clarity in
rules for land transfers; top-down decision making about which
land to allocate; and a lack of participation, accountability,
and transparency. There is even the potential that the GBI might
undermine instead of enhancing food security. The authors,
Blessings Chinsinga and Michael Chasukwa, explain the concerns
and suggest a list of policy considerations, including on
transparency, clarity and legislation. Photo: Sweet Potato by
IFPRI-IMAGES on Flickr