Making Investment Work for Africa: A parliamentarian response to "land grabs"

A report from the seminar Making Investment Work for Africa, organized by the Pan African Parliament in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS).

The report provides an overview of the recent wave of foreign investment in farmland and water in Africa and examines the impacts on development, employment, human rights, women and natural resources.

The report outlines the legal implications of foreign investment in light of the current system of bilateral investment treaties and investor-State contracts.

The report provides a road map for parliamentarians and other actors, including governments, academics and civil society, on how to address the new wave of investment. This map includes:

• Achieve the goal of the Maputo Declaration to invest at least 10 per cent of African countries' national budgets in the agriculture sector;

• Implement comprehensive land reform in line with the African Union Land Policy Initiative;

• Launch Africa-wide campaigns to improve awareness of the situation;

• Improve transparency and accountability;

• Build capacity among governments and parliamentarians to better negotiate investment deals; and

• Initiate legislative and budgetary measures.