University of Nairobi

Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies

THE LINK BETWEEN NEO-COLONIALISM AND FOOD INSECURITYIN MADAGASCAR, (2000 – 2014)

Research Project

Njore Mercy Njeri

R67/40479/2011

Supervisor:

Ms. Shazia Chaudhry

A Research Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in

International Studies.

DECLARATION

I, Njore Mercy Njeri, declare that this project is my original work and has not been presented for

a degree in any other university.

Sign…………………………………………….date………………………………………..

Njore Mercy Njeri

SUPERVISORThis project has been submitted with my approval as a university supervisor

Sign……………………………………….date……………………………………………

Ms. Shazia Chaudhry.

ii

DEDICATION

This project is dedicated to my father, Peter Njore Mwago, for always believing in me and

supporting me through every step of my academic path.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to my supervisor Ms.

Shazia Chaudhry, who assisted me during the course of writing. She offered me new

perspectives and shared a refreshing sense of knowledge on the subject matter.

My sincere thanks to my entire family as well, for continuously encouraging me in my studies.

iv

Acronyms

MDG Millennium Development Goal

LDCs Less Developed Countries

US United States

UN United Nations

WB World Bank

IMF International Monetary Fund

WTO World Trade Organization

SAPs Structural Adjustment Policies

ODA Official Development Assistance

IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute

ILC International Land Coalition

UK United Kingdom

FDI Foreign Direct Investment

UNCTAD United Nations Commission on Trade and Development

TNC Transnational Corporation

MNC Multinational Corporation

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization

SAVA Sambava, Antalaha, Vohemar and Andapa region in Madagascar

CIRAD Centre for Agriculture Research and Development

NGO Non Governmental Organization

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SEECALINE Surveillance Education des Ecoles et des Communautés en matière

d’Alimentation et de Nutrition Elargie

PADR Action Plan for Rural Development

CE Cereal Equivalent

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

WFP World Food Program

USD United States Dollar currency

HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

GIEWS Global Information and Early Warning System

GoM Government of Madagascar

WIR World Investments Report

UNSG United Nations Secretary General

PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

AU African Union

UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration........................................................................................................................................iiDedication........................................................................................................................................iiiAcknowledgement.............................................................................................................................ivAcronyms..........................................................................................................................................vTable of contents..............................................................................................................................vii

List of tables......................................................................................................................................x

List of figures....................................................................................................................................xi

Abstract...........................................................................................................................................xiiCHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY...................................................................1

1.0 Introduction..................................................................................................................................11.1 Statement of the research problem.................................................................................................21.2 Objectives of the research.............................................................................................................3

1.3 Hypotheses...................................................................................................................................41.4 Justification of the research problem..............................................................................................4

1.5 Literature review..........................................................................................................................51.5.0 The concept of food security...................................................................................................51.5.1 The concept of neo-colonialism...............................................................................................6

1.5.2 How neo-colonialism impacts on food security.........................................................................81.5.3 Role of transnational corporations in neo-colonialism.............................................................11

1.5.4 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................14

1.6 Gaps in the literature...................................................................................................................14

1.7 Theoretical framework................................................................................................................16

1.8 Research methodology................................................................................................................19

1.9 Scope/limitations of the research.................................................................................................20

1.10 Structure of the research............................................................................................................20CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF NEO-COLONIALISM FOOD...............21SECURITY IN MADAGASCAR...................................................................................................21

2.0 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................21

Figure 1: Regions of Madagascar Figure 2: Geographical map of Madagascar..............22

2.1 Mapping food insecurity in Madagascar.......................................................................................23

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Table 1: Procurement contracts for land investment in Madagascar 2006 - 2013...................................24

2.2 Neocolonialism trends in Madagascar..........................................................................................26

Figure 3: The food insecurity and neocolonialism relationship between developed countries and...........27

Madagascar.....................................................................................................................................27

2.3 The developed world’s take on neocolonialism.............................................................................29

2.4 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................31CHAPTER THREE: ASSESSING FOOD SECURITY IN MADAGASCAR BEFORE.................33THE 2008 GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS..............................................................................................33

3.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................33

3.1 An analysis of food insecurity at household levels in Madagascar..................................................37

3.2 The concept of land grab.............................................................................................................38

3.3 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................41CHAPTER FOUR: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..............................................................................43

4.0 Summary...................................................................................................................................43

4.1 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................45

4.2 Recommendations......................................................................................................................47

4.2.0 The marginal lands concept...................................................................................................47

4.2.1 Policy solution by CIRAD, ILC and the Madagascar Land Observatory...................................48

4.2.2 Policy solution from the World Investment Report.................................................................50

4.2.3 Scientific solution from the gulf............................................................................................51

4.2.4 Other multilateral policy solutions.........................................................................................51

Bibliography....................................................................................................................................53

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ix

LIST OF TABLES

x

LIST OF FIGURES

xi

ABSTRACT

The objective of this whole research is to link neo-colonialism to food insecurity and illustrate

how the former can be a causal factor for the latter using Madagascar as a case study. Based on

the realization that in the turn of the twenty first century food insecurity has become a threat to

human survival especially because of the effects that globalization has had on those poor

countries, it is exceedingly clear that much of the blame can be directed to the intensification of

the activities of transnational corporations in less regulated areas like Madagascar. Therefore, the

broad objective of this study is to explore the links between neo-colonialism and food security

issues in Madagascar from 2000 to 2014. Other specific objectives are to examine the history of

neo-colonialism and food security and also to assess the possible causes and outcomes of such

neo-colonialism and food insecurity in Madagascar. This is based on the assumption that the

continued practice of neo-colonialism increases food insecurity in Madagascar. Indeed, over the

years, neo-colonialism has manifested through transnational corporations, making them leaches

preying on the resources of the poor and vulnerable like land, which is prime for food production

for millions of households who depend on subsistence farming. This study relies on secondary

data including: academic and other essential non-academic books, credible internet sources,

reports, journals and various publications which are highly relevant and extremely important, of

which this study would not be complete without. The study also makes various academic and

policy recommendations based on the key findings including: the marginal lands concept,

scientific solutions from the gulf and others specified by organizations such as the Centre for

Agriculture and Development, the International Land Coalition, World Investment reports and

various multilateral approaches from the United Nations. Overall, the study also aims to examine

the gaps left by other scholars who have mainly researched on the same.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The concept of food security involves ensuring that all people have access to sufficient, safe, and

nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and their food preferences and to ensure an active

healthy life.1 However, ensuring food security itself is not simple. According to Craig Pearson,

the root cause of food insecurity is when food production and its distribution do not meet the

needs of the world’s population. 2 Statistically, about 840 million people go hungry; among them

are 185 million pre-school children that are severely underweight for their age. Clearly, the

numbers are shocking as the absolute number of malnourished people remains staggeringly high.

Moreover, since an additional 80 million people have to be fed each year due to the bulging

population index, achieving food security is a central global challenge, if not the most important.

Furthermore, an estimated 200 million people are classified as undernourished in Africa alone,

and with forecasts predicting a shortfall in meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of

halving global food insecurity by 2015, pressure remains on the agricultural sector to increase

yields.3

Madagascar is one of those most adversely-hit countries in terms of food insecurity. The case of

Madagascar is especially challenging because of exploitation of its land resources by the more

1 R. G. Rayfuse, & N. Weisfelt., The Challenge of Food Security: International Policy and Regulatory Frameworks, (Edward Edgar Publishing, 2012) P. 52 U. Kracht, & M. Schulz, Food Security and Nutrition: The Global Challenge, (LIT Verlag Münster, 1999). P. 113 J. Wright, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in an Era of Oil Scarcity: Lessons from Cuba, (Earthscan, 2008). P. 2

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developed and influential countries around the world4; a phenomenon more popularly referred to

as ‘land grabbing’. Academically, however, it can b e identified as neocolonialism. However, in

recent years, that access has been threatened by large scale acquisitions of farmland in

Madagascar often by foreign investors. Indeed, private firms from developed countries are

acquiring farmland in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) such as Madagascar, 5 making the

debate over large scale land acquisition to be lambasted by critics as a form of neocolonialism. In

other words, this ‘land-rush’ by developed countrie s is as a result of the unforgiving forces of

globalization that require diversification of production units at the least possible cost, and where

else to get such opportunities than in Madagascar; which over the past six years or so has

become a one-stop “shop” for foreign investors look ing to acquire large tracts of land.

One practical response to the problem of food insecurity in Madagascar calls for an increase in

preservation of agricultural land from foreign investors. The question now becomes whether

food insecurity in Madagascar has been worsened by the neocolonial tendencies of developed

countries in search of this valuable and limited resource called land.

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The total number of food-insecure people is estimated at 707 million in 2013, up from 3 million

in 2012 and over the longer term, the food security situation is projected to deteriorate.6 Secure

access to land is key to the food security of millions of small family farms and their efforts to

increase their agricultural productivity. Therein emerges an intricate controversial relationship

with apparently, a plethora of intertwined issues ranging from declining agricultural production

4 Model United Nations of San Antonio (MUNSA), “Neo-Colonialism: Exploitation of African Land for Wealthier Countries”, Special Political and Decolonization Committee, S/2013/INF.I, (July 2012) P. 1 – 55 M. Kugelman, & S. L. Levenstein, S, The Global Farms Race: Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security, (Island Press, 2012). P. 1 – 206 Relief Web USA, “International Food Security Assessment: 2013 – 2023”, www.reliefweb.int/report/world/, 20th

June 2013.

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due to the diversion of cropland to other uses by developed countries like building of highly

privatized commercial enterprises and companies. The question therefore becomes – to what

extent is land availability a constraint to food production and to ensuring food security in

Madagascar?

With that in mind, there is an absolute need then to understand that the move by developed

countries and foreign investors to shift companies overseas is inherently predatory on land and

resources, especially if it is created through clearing out of agricultural lands to make room for

gigantic multi-million dollar corporations. For example, in the past five years, rich developed

countries exhibiting neocolonial tendencies have acquired about 80 million hectares of land in

Africa and other continents with developing countries. As a matter of fact behind the ‘land

grabs’, lies the anticipated rise in consumption rates of products back in their home countries.

Hence, the argument that informs this study: the competition for land in Madagascar between the

Malagasy people who so badly need it for food production and the more robust foreign investors

from developed countries with the intention to use that same land for their own purposes.

Therefore, the study aims to examine the links between neo-colonialism and issues of food

security in Madagascar during the period from 2000 to 2014.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

The broad objectives of this study is to explore the links between neo-colonialism and food

security issues in Madagascar during the 2000 to 2014 period. Other specific objectives of the

study are:

· To examine the history of neo-colonialism and food security in Madagascar;

· To assess the possible causes and outcomes of neo-colonialism and food insecurity in

Madagascar;

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· To discuss the conceptual and theoretical links between neo-colonialism and food

security.

1.3 HYPOTHESES

1. The practice of neocolonialism increases the level of food insecurity in Madagascar.

2. The practice of neocolonialism decreases the level of food insecurity in Madagascar.

1.4 JUSTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

This study is important in explaining why and how developing countries are inclined to accept

‘money-for-land-deals’ forced upon them by foreign investors from developed countries that

ultimately impede their efforts in trying to resolve the grave problem of food insecurity. Also to

demonstrate just how paradoxical the relationship between food insecurity and industry and how

it informs the food versus foreign investments debate. More importantly, to keep in mind that

diversion of agricultural land for foreign investment in Madagascar is just but one major cause of

food insecurity among a myriad of many other causes but at the very least, to understand that it is

the most pressing and dangerous cause. Lastly, to reiterate that the issue of food insecurity is a

global issue affecting even the rich and powerful developed countries. However, it would appear

that developed and industrialized countries will and often do go to extreme lengths like

neocolonialism of the more vulnerable developing countries like Madagascar, to secure their

most urgent needs.

To add to this, the global food regime is still been managed through International Relations. In

other words, the guiding principle of multilateral institutions governing, spearheading or working

towards resolving the food insecurity issue is the idea that economic growth via market and

political mechanisms provides the most suitable solutions in achieving food security but the fact

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remains that such market-based and political approaches to food security remain entrenched in

neocolonial power structures that have failed to create a just global food system.7

Furthermore, what’s worse is that far from been coerced into these land deals, Madagascar

welcomes them and even lobbies aggressively for them in the hope that heavy injections of

foreign capital will enhance agricultural technologies, boost local employment, revitalize sagging

agricultural sectors and ultimately improve agricultural yields.8 Yet, the food insecurity crisis in

Madagascar remains at a staggeringly high statistic.

1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.5.0 The concept of food security

The concept of food security emerged in the 20th Century as post World War II reconstruction

efforts and the decolonization of many Third World countries created a global food regime that

was managed through complex local, regional, and International Relations.9 The right to food is

a human right firmly established in International Law but its operational content and means of

application are generally little understood. Nevertheless, the general concept of adequate food

can be broken down into several elements: the food supply should be adequate which means that

the types of food stuffs commonly available should be culturally acceptable; the available supply

should cover overall nutritional needs in terms of quantity and quality and last but not least; the

food should be safe and of good quality.10

On the other hand, according to Craig Pearson, the root cause of food insecurity is, quite simply,

that food production and its distribution do not meet the needs of the world’s population. 11 Food-

7 W. D. Schanbacher, “The Politics of Food: The Global Conflict between Food Security and Food Sovereignty”, (ABC-CLIO, 2010) P. VIII8 M. Kugelman, & S. L. Levenstein, op cit. P. 5 9 W. D. Schanbacher, op cit. P. VII10 Food and Agricultural Organization, ‘The Right to Food: In Theory and Practice’, FAO of the UN, (1998) P. vi - 3 11 R. G. Rayfuse & N. Weisfelt, op cit. P. 5

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insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of roughly 2000

calories per day per person. By 2023, the number of food-insecure people is projected to increase

nearly 23 percent to 868 million, slightly faster than population growth. As a result, the share of

the population that is food insecure is projected to increase from 20.4 percent to 21.5 percent.

The distribution gap – amount of additional food ne eded to bring people in all income deciles up

to the nutritional target – is projected to increas e 28 percent by 2023, meaning that food

insecurity in Madagascar too is expected to intensify over the next 10 years.

Despite improvements over the years, Madagascar is projected to remain one of the most food-

insecure regions in the world.12 By 2050, when the global population is projected to surpass 9

billion people, the demand for agricultural products will double. Food insecurity in the 76

countries included in this report (low- and middle-income countries as classified by the World

Bank that are or have experienced food insecurity) is expected to remain virtually unchanged,

but with some distributional changes, between 2012 and 2013.13 Yet, agricultural systems are

already stretched to their limits.14

1.5.1 The concept of neo-colonialism

Although the concept of neo-colonialism was developed by many scholars, no official definition

of this term exists. The first historical reference of neo-colonialism was made by Jean-Paul Sartre

who used the term ‘neo-colonialism’ in 1956. The circulation of the term began in the 1960s

during the acceleration of decolonisation process. In 1960, the magazine Présence africaine

defined neo-colonialism as a new form of colonialism aimed at dominating and exploiting the

countries in a more delicate form. During the All African People’s Conference

12 Relief Web USA op cit. www.reliefweb.int/report/world/, 20th June 2013. 13 ibid

14 World Economic Forum, ‘Global Agenda Council on Food Security 2013’, Retrieved from: http://www.weforum.org/content, 2013

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held in Cairo in 1961, a statement was made about neo-colonialism –‘Neo-colonialism is the

survival of the colonial system in spite of formal recognition of political independence

in emerging countries which become the victims of an indirect and subtle form of domination by

political, economic, social, military or technical means’. Most importantly it was Ghanaian

President Kwame Nkrumah who popularised this term and defined it as follows: ‘The essence of

neo-colonialism is that the state which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the

outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and its political

policy is directed from outside’. The Marxist-Leninist ideology and the theory of

underdevelopment had a significant impact on Nkrumah.15

Martin perceives neo-colonialism as a multi-faceted phenomenon which combines various forms

of administrating the country. He emphasizes neo-colonial aspects of control which include

economy, technology, culture and military power. ‘Independence for former African colonies has

meant trading the direct political control of colonialism for the indirect economic, political and

cultural controls of neo-colonialism’. Ardant points out that neo-colonialism adapted itself to a

new situation which demands economic and cultural domination. The mechanisms of neo-

colonial control are indirect and non-transparent and vary from economic, financial to military

and aim at sustaining leaders and officials who are favourable to the neo-colonial country.16

The neo-colonial powers dictate the prices of commodities and manufactured goods, commit the

neo-colonised countries to purchase manufactured goods in exchange of raw materials, set the

rules on the transportation of goods and control capital. Supplementary economic measures

include technological domination, application of consumption patterns, high interest rates,

control of the banking system and obligation to export raw materials without an added value In

15 V. Gregusona, ‘China in Africa: Case Study of Ghana in the Scope of Neo-colonialism’, Masaryk University, 2013.P. 5 - 8 16 ibid

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order to maintain the control over the country, a currency zone can be created as well as

economic agreements favouring neo-colonial power. International organisations such as the

World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) performed direct neo-colonial control by enforcing the policy of Structural Adjustment

Plans (SAPs) on African states. The maintenance and increase of indebtedness through loans

provided by international organizations is another mechanism. The policies result in massive

repatriation of income, dumping of cheap products, devaluation of currency and inflated prices

of commodities.17

The official development assistance (ODA) provided by international organisations and neo-

colonial powers obliges African countries to share information about their economic policies.

The donor states force the recipient countries to conclude agreements on economic cooperation

and decide into which projects the aid shall be invested. They also influence internal monetary

policies by lowering trade barriers and by safeguarding their private investments. Nkrumah

asserted that the development aid was a revolving credit which increased profits of the neo-

colonial power. Amin perceived technical aid and assistance as a proof of technological

domination. The ODA is often used for prestige projects, salaries of government officials and

embassies, and is not utilised for developmental purpose.18

1.5.2 How neo-colonialism impacts on food security

Although the long term effects of neo-colonialism show positive growth and change for the more

developed nations of the Eurasia and North America, the detrimental inhibition of

neocolonialism can be seen in many of the LDCs of Africa. As a result, rich countries and

private multi-national corporations have been flocking to Madagascar. However, most of these

17 ibid 18 ibid

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transactions, if not all, are highly opaque and controversial. Of particular interest is the scale of

these overseas activities of purchasing or leasing land in Madagascar. Talking in numbers, in

2009, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released information that around 15 –

20 million hectares of farmland in Africa had been subjected to negotiations or transactions. Two

years later, the International Land Commission (ILC) presented information indicating that

nearly 80 million hectares were under negotiations with foreigners. This figure alone represents

an amount exceeding the area of farmland in Britain, France, Germany and Italy combined. That

same year, the World Bank group also reported that in 2009, about 60 million hectares worth of

deals were announced. In Madagascar, an arrangement that would have given a South Korean

company called Daewoo a 99 year lease deal on 1.3 million hectares of farmland collapsed due

to timely revelation and public outcry. But still, that was only one of the many others in

Madagascar that are ongoing and are threatening food security in that country.19 This is because

such huge land acquisitions by foreigners impact negatively on small farmers, their lands, and

livelihoods to a point whereby they are unable to feed themselves and their families.

The case of Madagascar, for instance, involves investors from a variety of backgrounds. More

than two-thirds of the project promoters between 2005 and 2010 were foreign, that is, 36 out of

52 projects. Of these, half were European (from the U.K., France. Germany, Italy and the

Netherlands) and the rest were from South Africa, India, Australia and South Korea. The

attraction of Madagascar to foreigners seem to be linked to the government’s effort to create a

favorable investment climate; a challenge resulting from the evaluation by the World Bank in

2005 of the investment climate in six countries including Madagascar. This evaluation revealed a

considerable decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and ranked Madagascar 146 th out of 177

countries worldwide. Subsequently, the country’s economic recovery strategies were focused

19 M. Kugelman, & S. L. Levenstein, op cit. P. 1 – 21

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inter alia on the promotion of foreign investment which clearly set out among its immediate

priorities, an increase in investments particularly through the authorization of land acquisitions

for non-national investors and the adoption of an investment law in 2008. Malagasy operators

tend to concentrate on the agro-fuels sector. 20 Besides, buying vast areas from developing

countries is not limited to just land. Developing countries are willing to strike a deal with

companies and countries, be it direct or in public-private partnerships.21

The argument is that although overseas acquisition of land has been there since the Roman times,

the emphasis now is on market-driven investments. Rapid industrialization has produced

growing consumer incomes and rising demand for food and industrial raw materials abroad.

Merge this with the context of sharply reduced transport costs and liberalization of trade and one

can see the sudden need for investments in developing countries such as Madagascar. In other

words, these factors combined induce companies from the North to invest overseas to supply

growing markets. 22 This is how neocolonialism has been linked to food insecurity in

Madagascar.

The question therefore becomes – why such a prolife ration of neocolonial tendencies in

Madagascar? Madagascar has been one of the few developing countries to try and go up against

the tyranny of rich developed countries and private firms which prey on the resources of the

weak and vulnerable in its borders after the successful downfall of the Daewoo Logistics land

deal. However, the reasons why such deals come up in the first place can be attributed to the fact

that large scale transfers, whether lease or purchase, often undermine local land access and

property rights. Despite Madagascar’s new land policy, large tracts of land are still offered for

lease to investors and consequently, most investors are able to engage in both formal and

20 R. A. Ratsialonana, et al. op cit. P. 66 – 72 21 MUNSA: Model United Nations of San Antonio. op cit. P. 1 – 3: 2 22 M. Kugelman, & S. L. Levenstein, op cit. P. 1 – 21

10

informal procedures in order to gain access to land. State representatives and local elites, on the

other hand, generally welcome agribusiness projects due to potential rents and other benefits

associated with international investments. In Madagascar therefore, for a long time, agribusiness

investments have been seen as development projects and as a result, are more welcome than

not.23

1.5.3 Role of transnational corporations in neo-colonialism

According to Dunning, a multinational or transnational enterprise is one that engages in foreign

direct investment and owns or controls value-adding activities in more than one country. United

Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) defines a Transnational

Corporation (TNC) as an incorporated or unincorporated enterprise comprising of parent

enterprises and their foreign affiliates. In simplified terms, a TNC is a business firm producing

commodities or services for profit. Bornschier & Chase-Dunn on the other hand say that TNCs

are organizational entities with a single division of labor under the effective control of a

centralized hierarchy.24 Therefore, transnational corporations in one way or another engage in

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). FDI can be defined as an investment involving a long-term

relationship and reflecting a lasting interest and control of a resident entity in one economy. It

implies a significant degree of influence and control is exerted by the foreign investor or parent

enterprise.

The transnational corporations, aided by hedge funds, play a key role in causing the current

global food crisis and rise in food prices through their increasing control of the food system. Jean

Ziegler; the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food recently indicted multinational

23 Welford, W., et al Governing Global Land Deals: The role of the state in the rush for land, (John Wiley & Sons, 2013). P. 164

24 R. Schaub, ‘Transnational Corporations and Economic Development in Developing Countries: Assessing the Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth in Developing Countries with an Extended Solow Model’, Zurich, 2004. P. 20

11

companies for badly aggravating the food crisis and raising food prices. Speaking in Geneva,

Switzerland, Ziegler told journalists that there has been an explosion in prices which is largely

due to the role of big corporations and hedge funds. He explained in length that these big agri-

corporations have huge stocks and are aided by hedge funds and as a result, they indulge in

speculative activities so that food access decreased for poor people while the profits of these

companies are inflated. He called for more effective international supervisory mechanism for

transnational companies which increasingly control food and water systems. As a matter of fact,

a very big share of the food trade is already controlled by 5 or 6 international corporations. It is

now increasingly realized that the growing dominance of food and agriculture sector by a

handful of giant agribusiness corporations is posing a serious threat to food security and well-

being of farmers. What’s worse is that this dominance starts right from the beginning of

agricultural work.25

For example, according to data compiled by the World Bank, multinational agro-enterprises

increasingly dominate the agribusiness sector along the value chain. This dominance of farming

by giant agribusiness companies has proved socially disruptive, ecologically destructive and

ruinous for family farmers. Today, highly influential international forums like the World Trade

Organization (WTO) are also being used to strengthen the Multi National Corporation (MNC)

grip on the food system. It is thus extremely important for developing countries like Madagascar

in particular to take united action and to cooperate with each other in reducing the growing

dominance of a few giant agribusiness companies in the most critical area of food and

agriculture.26

25 Consumers Association of Penang, ‘Multinational companies becoming a threat to food security’ Retrieved from:http://www.consumer.org26 ibid

12

In another example, the delegates of peasants’ organizations from different African countries

gathered in Antananarivo in May 2008 to hold a regional meeting and discuss various issues

related to the life of small farmers and their organizations in the region. La Via Campesina is an

international peasant movement. During the meeting, they discussed among other things,

strategies to fight against neo-liberal policies being imposed on the continent. Small farmers and

pastoralists have been developing different ways of coping with the current food crisis,

especially since the introduction of destructive policies by the World Bank and IMF which

undermine domestic food production. Liberalization of trade has resulted in a virtual war against

small producers. Farmers are been forced to produce cash crops for TNCs and to but their own

food on the world market. We grow food but the benefits of the harvest often get taken out of our

hands.27

Over the last 20 – 30 years the World Bank and the IMF have forced Madagascar to decrease

their investment in food production and to reduce support for peasants and small farmers. More

recently, the WTO has been pushing for the liberalization of international trade, opening the path

for TNCs who steal their markets from the small farmers. On top of this, the corporate expansion

of agri-fuels for instance, has added to the projected reduction in agricultural land used to grow

food crops, and Madagascar was in the past and still is in the verge of converting hundreds of

thousands of hectares from agricultural use to the so-called economic development zones,

urbanizations, and infrastructure. 28 Indeed, the on-going land-grabbing by TNCs and other

speculators will expel millions more peasants from rural areas. They will end up in the mega

cities where they will join the growing ranks of the hungry and the poor in the slums.

27 ibid 28 ‘Global Food Crisis’, Regional meeting of La Via Ca mpesina Africa IN Madagascar, 14th-17th May 2008

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1.5.4 Conclusion

In conclusion, despite Madagascar’s new land policy large tracts of land are still been offered for

lease to investors and judging from the number of food-insecure people that is spiraling out of

control, there is need to create new ways of dealing with foreign investors from abroad or else, it

will be too little too late. In 1985, Timberlake wrote a book titled, ‘ Africa in Crisis’ and in it, he

provided a fresh and powerful analysis of the droughts and famine then and forced people to look

at why the livelihoods of many millions of people were under threat and reiterated the need to

move beyond the immediate causes to longer-established underlying problems.29 My guess is

that he was referring to the neocolonial tendencies of the rich and mighty developed countries

upon the poor and vulnerable that has in the past diminished and continues to take away their

means of survival, including the need to be food secure.

1.6 GAPS IN THE LITERATURE

The debate on the global amounts of land available from an agronomic point of view often hides

other dimensions of ‘land availability’. Many autho rs point to the need for a clearer picture of

what ‘available land’ means, some preferring to use the term ‘underutilized’ land while others

contest the very notion arguing that most, if not all, land is already in use in various ways.

Secondly, Madagascar is still in the process of putting policies together on best foreign

investment practices and many investments and initiatives still in various stages of

implementation. To add to this, Madagascar’s current government has not defined its position

towards the question of land allocation and has not signed any contracts in the agricultural sector.

Lastly, the two models of development currently in Madagascar seem to be in opposition with

one another. The first model depends on national and foreign private investment and on the

29 C. Toulmin, B. & Wisner, Towards a New Map of Africa, (Routledge, 2012) P. 46

14

creation of agribusiness activities, particularly oriented towards exports, which its promoters

hope will lead to positive effects and economic growth. The second model is based on family

farming and aims to strengthen food security by protecting existing land rights and promoting a

set of public actions in support of farms.

Therefore, the challenge still remains about how to accentuate the mutual interests of investors

and family farmers. There’s also the issue of how to anticipate the principles and institutional

frameworks for agribusiness investments in Madagascar. This is because, even if the

agribusiness investments are made, or any kind of investments for that matter, the profits and

products end up been shipped out of the country and even more damaging is the fact that most

foreign investors end up hiring a workforce from their home countries instead of employing the

local communities in the host state.

Much of the literature on land availability is devoted to calculations on the amount of

agronomically ‘suitable’ and available land. In fac t, major assessments suggest that ample

amounts of land can be mobilized to confront future food demand on the condition that good

management practices are adopted and that the same arguments are developed when discussing

investments. The debate on the global amounts of land available from an agronomic point of

view has had many scholars and practitioners alike avoiding or circumnavigating the matter in

their discussions surrounding the food versus foreign investments debate and forgetting to tackle

the real life-threatening present challenge of food insecurity in Madagascar.

In sum, this study points out to the need for a clearer picture of exactly what ‘available land’

means. More importantly, since Madagascar is still in the process of putting together policies on

foreign investments, not much, if at all, has been written on the solutions it can adopt to mitigate

or avoid exploitation by developed countries. What is available is speculatory literature and

15

recommendations based on “ifs” but what are really needed are permanent working solutions that

are not only viable but also specific to Madagascar.

1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

One of the terms that is used by everyone regardless they are businessmen, politicians or

academicians and whose meaning and nature are not settled is the term “globalization”. The origin of

the word globalization is “ global”. The word global may take different meanings in different

languages. According to Meydan Larousse the term global means “ undertaken entirely”. This is the

meaning attributed to the word globa l by Western languages. Besides, the term means “

homogeneity” in French. Hence the term means both “ entirety” and “ homogeneity”. There are

different ideas on the first usage of the term globalization with its contemporary

meaning. Although the origin of the term with its contemporary meaning goes back to 17 th

century, the term grounds to the term “ global village” used by Canadian sociology professor

Marshall McLuhan in 1960 in his book titled “Explor ations in Communication”. According to

some other claims, the term globalization was first used in 1980s in the prestigious American

colleges of Harvard, Stanford and Columbia and popularized by these environments. Another

claim is that fist formations and forecasts of globalization were written by American

entrepreneur-minister Charles Taze Russell with the term “ corporate giants” in 1897.

The book of Ronald Robertson called “Globalization” has brought in theoretical content to the

term. The term which had not been used in 1980s even by academic environments, was started to

be used increasingly as a key term in the explanations of the theories of social change in 1990s.

The American Defense Institute defines globalization as “fast and continuous inter-border flow

of goods, services, capital (or money), technology, ideas, information, cultures and nations”.

According to the Institute, through globalization an unprecedented integration among economies

16

is occurring, an information reform is being experienced, and markets, corporations,

organizations and governance are becoming more international.

As can be seen from the definition, the term globalization covers many concepts. The term

cannot be assessed solely as either political or economic process, or worldwide spanning of

production or capital flows. Globalization covers a process that encompasses the whole

aforementioned dimensions. Therefore, the term globalization can be given different meanings

by different people. It can be interpreted differently due to the different dimensions of the terms

such as time/location, its dimensions, cause/result cycles and its perspectives. Hence the term can

be used in different meanings by different people. Besides there are academic studies on which

meaning is the term used. In one of such studies it is proposed that the term should be

differentiated according to the disciplines.

In this study the term globalization that has wide, complex and contradicting effects is tried to be

analyzed mainly with its economic dimension also with some references to cultural, social,

political and historical facets. Today labor and capital flows among countries and corporations

with an unprecedented pace and amount. Therefore capital flows, production and service

activities, commercial and technological developments attain international character. Billions of

dollars can be transferred with only one “click”. I n this framework the dimensions and the

domain of the competition that enterprises face change inevitably, enterprises become

international, production and service activities, and international horizontal integrations increase.

Multi-National Companies (MNC) and foreign direct investment (FDI) become more effective

on individual economies. Now national frontiers disappear or at least lose its former rigidity and

world head for an economic, political and cultural integrity.30

30 A. D. Murat & U. D. Isparta, ‘Globalization and Internationalization’, European Union, 2005, P. 4 – 5

17

Given this origin of globalization, the most urgent need in this study is to expound on the causal

relationship between food security and lack thereof specifically in Madagascar, which has been

established earlier in the statement of the research problem as being caused by neocolonial

tendencies of rich developed countries which prey on its lands. Food insecurity is no longer

resulting from endogenous causes but from external factors including neocolonialism, with

particular emphasis on the destructive role of TNCs. Therefore, the globalization theory best

describes the current problem of food insecurity in Madagascar. It appears that certain strategies

for food security must be embedded in the framework of global accumulation and regulation

since globalization is the determining characteristic of the present worldwide development.

In the context of Madagascar, it must be emphasized that the global process is not all-embracing

and uni-linear but it is characterized by changing boundaries, inherent limitations and even

contradictions. For instance, to let developed countries pursue ‘development projects’ in

Madagascar at the expense of the big problem of food security that is numbingly present today is

an example of such a contradiction. To be more exact, in the Third World, probably only one to

two percent of the population has access to profits from globalization which indicates a further

widening gap between the rich and poor countries. Among the aspects that deserve particular

attention in Madagascar is that TNCs have gained influence over the production of export

crops31 grown in countries such as Madagascar.

Substantially, the main proponents of food security: IFPRI and Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD) have expressed deepening forces of land alienation, food

insecurity and the destruction of livelihoods and thus reinforcing the pre-existing forms of

31 U. Kracht, & M. Schulz, op cit. P. 13 – 19

18

marginalization of the poor as a result of foreign investments.32 In this regard, the issue of land

availability for the joint development and increase of food production is a pivotal point in the

food versus foreign investments debate. The question – “is land available?” – needs to take into

account the multiple dimensions of the notion of availability: from physical availability to land’s

agronomic, legal, environmental and social dimensions and the way priorities are established

among them.33 After all, it is not just about food production but the right kinds of food that are of

quality and are nutritious for the Malagasy.

It must also be appreciated that food security as a concept originated only in the mid-1970s in the

discussions of international food problems at a time of global food crisis. 34 Although the

globalization theory has been established as the theoretical framework guiding this study, no

food security debate would be complete without mentioning the importance of the human

security paradigm promoted by the 1994 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human

Development Report and consequently the creation of the MDGs, of which food security is a

pertinent aim. This concept of food security should therefore be considered beyond the confines

of this study for a rich understanding of the problem of food security outside a neocolonialism

perpetuated by globalization forces.

1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Due to the nature and density of this study, secondary data will be used to conduct a

comprehensive research. Secondary data is a compilation of data already collected, edited,

published or unpublished. It is suitable for this study because it can stand the test of time, it is

very specific, available, systematic and more economical.

32 F. Boamah, ‘The Relationship between Land Grabbing for Bio-fuels and Food Security, a Bane or Boon?’, International Conference of Global Land Grabbing, (2011) P. 16 – 17 33 HLPE: High Level Panel of Experts, op cit. P. 1 – 22: 22 34 “Food Security: Concepts and Measurements”, FAO, Retrieved from: http:// www.fao.org/docrep/,

19

For the purposes of this study, secondary data will include: books; credible internet sources;

newspapers; podcasts; reports; journals and publications on the various topics informing this

study which are invaluable and extremely important, of which it would not be complete without.

The topics include: food security, food insecurity, foreign investments, neo-colonialism, and

Madagascar.

1.9 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

I. Due to a limited budget and time, it will be impossible to travel to Madagascar to

conduct the survey process in person.

II. Since the majority of the population in Madagascar is Malagasy and French speakers, it

would further complicate the survey process because of linguistic differences.

Furthermore, hiring a translator can prove to be very expensive in the entire survey

process.

III. The volume of information that the research problem in this study is presenting is so wide

that it is nearly impossible not to mention each and every aspect of food insecurity

because of space.

1.10 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH

This study will have four chapters.

Chapter 1: Introduction to the study.

Chapter 2: Historical perspectives of neocolonialism and food security in Madagascar.

Chapter 3: Assessing food security in Madagascar before the 2008 global food crisis.

Chapter 4: Conclusion of the study, recommendations and suggestions on further areas of study.

20

CHAPTER TWO

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF NEO-COLONIALISM FOODSECURITY IN MADAGASCAR

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean located off the southeastern coast of Africa

and has a population of 22, 005, 222 people.35 Its capital city is Antananarivo. Its economy is

primarily agricultural with an area of about 587, 041 Kilometers squared. Out of that, 5.03

percent is arable land whereas 1.85 percent is irrigated land. The median age of the population is

18 years.36 The population growth rate is 3.03 percent. It was a French colony making French

and Malagasy the official languages of the country.

Since 2006, close to 3 million hectares of land has been targeted in Madagascar by foreign

investors. These numbers are significant considering that Madagascar has 2 million hectares of

its land cultivated by 2.5 million family farmers. In this regard, the estimates of the total

cultivable land in Madagascar vary according to different institutions and methodologies. For

example, the Ministry of Agriculture in 2008 placed the figure at 8 million hectares whereas

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) put it at 20 million hectares. Therefore, the land

targeted by investors represents 37 percent in the former estimate and 15 to 20 percent in the

latter. This is because Madagascar has good soil quality, favorable rainfall for crops, vast

relatively flat areas of land. More so, because of its proximity to the sea in order to ship produce,

Madagascar’s coastal lands serve as a prime attraction to foreign investors. Because of this,

35 G. J. Ames, ‘Distant lands and diverse cultures: the French experience in Asia’, (New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003) P. 25 36 K. C. Hong, How to create win-win land deals: strategic review of Daewoo land deal in Madagascar as case study, Columbia University, 2011.

21

factors, the most targeted region s include Boeny, Sofia, Melkay, Menabe, Antsinanana, SAVA

and Atsimo-Andrefana. (See figure 1 and 2 below). Figure 1 shows the physical location of the

mentioned regions and figure 2 illustrates the kind of geographical significance t hey have.

Figure 1: Regions of Madagascar37 Figure 2: Geographical map of Madagascar 38

37‘Regions of Madagascar’. Retrieved from: http://www.air-mad.com/38 ‘Madagascar Regions Map’. Retrieve d from: http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Madagascar-regions-map

22

These regions are significant in the following ways: Analamanga falls within the high plateau

region of Madagascar with altitudes there ranging from 750m to 3000m meaning the area is good

for agriculture, and most likely is the best food production zone in the whole of Madagascar.

Antsinanana falls in the Eastern side in the coastal plains and is therefore the most attractive

region for foreign investors who intend to establish export processing industries because of its

proximity to the sea. The southern region of Menabe, Atsimo-Andrefana, Atsimo-Antsinanana

and, Ihorombe are said to be the most food insecure areas in the whole of Madagascar because of

the dry forest.

As a result of the unique characteristics of these regions, the case of Madagascar demonstrates a

diverse origin of investors. More than two-thirds of investors between 2005 and 2010 were

foreigners; majority of them of European origin from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and,

Holland. The remainders were of Malagasy origin. The ongoing projects were aiming primarily

to produce agro-fuels as most of the agribusiness projects had been cancelled. For example, the

majority of promoters of foreign projects foresaw the production of jatropha on areas between

10,000 to 30,000 hectares whereas most of the Malagasy companies were focusing on adding

value to sugarcane production in rural areas and concentrated their activities on the industrial

processing of sugar cane into ethanol.39

2.1 MAPPING FOOD INSECURITY IN MADAGASCAR

In terms of food security, the vast of the majority Malagasy people live in extreme poverty,

malnutrition and even starvation. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Two-

thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. One-third suffers from malnutrition and

39 R. A. Ratsialonana, et al. op cit. P. 11 – 12

23

more than half a million people depend on food supplies from the international community.40 In

less than ten years, agricultural land granted by the Government of Madagascar, often

unilaterally and completely opaque, has run up to hundreds of thousands of hectares. In a country

where more than 70% of the population is rural and where one farmer has an average of only

0.15 hectares of land to cultivate, this poses not only a serious ethical problem but a food

security problem as well. The Land Matrix; a global and independent monitoring initiative that

promotes transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment, has currently

revealed 12 signed contracts from 2006 to 2013. Other organizations such as the Centre for

Agricultural Research and Development (CIRAD) suggest several additional contracts.41 (See

figure 3 below)

Table 1: Procurement contracts for land investment in Madagascar 2006 - 2013 42

SURFACE INVESTORS PURPOSE FOR DURATION WHERE INDEMANDED MADAGASCARLAND

1,300,000 ha Daewoo Agro-fuels 99 years MelakyLogistics (Maize, Palm oil) (suspended) Menabe(South Korea) Antsinanana

550,000 ha GEM Bio-fuels Forestry unknown Atsimo-andrefana(UK, Ireland) Jatropha

Cotton manioc550,000 ha Hunter Agriculture (abandoned) Mahajanga

Resources(UK, NorthIreland)

200,000 ha Madabeef Livestock unknown Menabe(UK, Atsimo-andrefanaMadagascar)

150,000 ha Unitech & Sunflower for oil unknown DianaUnited production SofiaTechnologies Bieny

40 R. D. Regewald, ‘Madagascar: Daewoo’s rainforest land grab in nature’s paradise’, Retrieved from: http://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/5661, 19/06/2009. 41 V. Douguet, ‘Madagascar: to eat or to be eaten’, Retrieved from: http://www.ejolt.org/2013/09/,

05/09/2013. 42 ibid

24

Group (USA) Melaky120,000 ha Bio-energy Ltd unknown Sofia

(Australia,Madagascar)

100,000 ha TOZZI Holding Bio-fuels 30 years IhorombeGroup Agriculture(Italy) Jatropha

30,000 ha Fuelstock Agriculture unknown FarihyMadagascar Agro-fuels Ambromalandy(UK, North Food cropsIreland)

20,000 ha Indian Ocean Agriculture unknown SofiaCommission (rice, onions) Wakinankaratra(France,Comoros,Sychelles,Madagascar)

20,000 ha Mada Woodland Forestry unknown Mahajanga(Norway) Bio-fuels Mampikony

15,000 ha Platinum Agriculture unknown BoenyMadagascar Agro-fuels(SARL)GEXSI(Germany)Futuro Forestal(Panama)

15,000 ha SMCTR Forestry unknown Moramanga(DRT)

10,000 ha COMPLANT Agriculture unknown DianaMadagascarSugar Ltd.China NationalComplete PlantImport & ExportCorporation(China)

10,000 ha SUCOCOMA Sugar unknown Diana(China) Menabe

6,000 ha SODHAI Agriculture unknown Analamanga(Inde, Food cropsMadagascar)

4,500 ha SaoBe Oil plants unknown Atsimo-andrefana(France) Cereals

Vegetables3,000 ha Jatro Solutions Agriculture unknown Haute Matsiatra

Green Island M. Agro-fuels

25

(Germany)

2.2 NEOCOLONIALISM TRENDS IN MADAGASCAR

When the Financial Times in November 2008 first broke the story about how Daewoo Logistics;

a South Korean company, intended to acquire more than one million hectares of land in

Madagascar, it was clear what was at stake – Madaga scar’s biodiversity rich rainforests and

species-rich local gardens. As a matter of fact, many viewed this ‘land grab’ as a result of the

2008’s global food crisis and a shortage of arable land in developed countries. The argument is

that in order to produce food and agro-fuels necessary for a highly consumptive lifestyle, many

developed and emerging countries are increasingly willing to threaten local and global human

rights such as the right to food. At the time, Daewoo’s ‘land grab’ threatened the very right of the

majority of the Malagasy people to eat because its plans for large-scale agro-industrial

agriculture for exports would dramatically exacerbate the situation.43 Such actions by foreign

companies and the government of Madagascar not only violate the customary lands and rights of

the people who live there but also the people need these lands for food production.

The trend of foreign land acquisitions was worrisome because they have the potential to hurt

domestic efforts to raise food production and could limit broad-based economic growth. Many of

these deals have little oversight, transparency or regulation, and have no environmental

safeguards and fail to protect small holder farmers from losing their customary rights to use land.

The UN special rappateur on the right to food; Olivier De Schutter argues that these land deals

represent a threat to food security and other core human rights and that the stakes are huge for

receiving governments such as Madagascar because you find that sometimes agreements

concerning thousands of hectares of farmland are only just three to four pages long. The UN

43 R. D. Regewald, op cit. Retrieved from: http:// www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/5661, 19/06/2009.

26

rappateur attributes such deals to two main factors: the desire for food security in developed

countries and the rising demand for bio-fuels. (See figure 4 below)

Figure 3: The food insecurity and neocolonialism relationship between developed countries and Madagascar

LAND OF BLOOM LAND OF GLOOM

MAJOR CAUSES OF FOOD INSECURITY:· Increasing Population growth · Increasing consumption of

food and fuel due to globalization

Climate change

CONSUMPTIVE FOODLIFESTYLE INSECURITY!

DEVELOPED MADAGASCARCOUNTRIES

(PlentyOfLand)(No land)

MASSIVE LANDGRABSNeocolonialism

Urgent need toinvest in landoverseas.

From the illustration above, the relationship between food security and foreign investments is

quite complex. On the one hand, official policies around the world have created enormous

demand for overseas investments. But as well as being discredited environmentally, acquisitions

of large tracts of land by foreign investors have become a major driver of world hunger as lands

are diverted away from food production to industrial and other uses. As massive tracts of land

are acquired or grabbed to do so, families are left without land to feed themselves or to grow

crops to sell and support themselves. What may originally have been a well – intentioned policy

to make globalization a success has turned out to be disastrous for global hunger.44 Ironically,

because Madagascar certainly doesn’t have the resources and technology needed to do the same

it finds itself booby-trapped by foreign investment policies engineered by the developed

countries of the West to suit their needs.

According to the World Bank’s 2011 study, of the world’s 445 million hectares of unfarmed land

suitable for cropping, non-forested, non-protected and populated with less than 25 people per

square kilometer, more than 200 million hectares are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Paradoxically,

many African countries relinquishing their farmland are so acutely food-insecure that they

depend on and from the World Food Program. In the case of Madagascar, several years after the

Daewoo debacle, researchers discovered that land deals continue to emphasize school building

and clinic construction. Regardless of the nature of foreign land acquisitions in Africa, an

essential fact remains: Madagascar’s land is highly contentious because millions of smallholders

are seemingly ignored. Indeed, the thirst for investments overseas by developed countries

collides with limited land availability45 and there are several arguments to support this.

44 Webwire, G8’s Biofuel Use Contributing to World Hunger, Retrieved from: http://www.webwire.com, 29th

April 2013. 45 M. Kugelman, & S. L. Levenstein., op cit. P. 1 – 19: 13 – 19.

28

Firstly, food security policies and overseas investments policies cannot be separated because

they mutually interact. Normally, the solution to this would be for Madagascar to adopt the

principle that foreign investments should not compromise food security and therefore, should be

managed so that food access or the resources necessary for the production of food, principally

food, are not put at risk.46 This is clearly not the case.

Secondly, the last decade’s global quest for more consumption has put overseas investments at

the forefront and with it, the longstanding “food v ersus foreign investments” debate. In other

words, the dispute is on whether to divert land to please cash-rich foreign investors instead of

feeding households. With Madagascar investing heavily on foreign investment sector, there are

rising concerns that it will continue to bear the brunt of increasing food prices and declining food

quality. Timothy Searchinger; a scientist at Princeton University insists that if food reduction

occurs because of higher prices, it’s generally the world’s poor who are eating less.

2.3 THE DEVELOPED WORLD’S TAKE ON NEOCOLONIALISM

With regards to the issue of exploitation by developed countries, it is clear that a number of

NGOs in their desire to highlight some very important issues and concerns have been

exaggerating and overstating a lot of their claims, which partly of course speaks to their need to

attract funding. Most of the developed world thinks it’s unscientific and unsubstantiated by facts.

The central argument according to proponents of the developed countries is that the problem

with African agriculture is productivity. The way the land is farmed means that it does not

produce enough to feed everyone. Also, that Africa’s agricultural revolution requires a

substantial increase in productivity, something in their opinion that is just not possible without

creating large commercial farms and investing even larger sums through foreign investors. In

other words, the logic is that the money will eventually have to come from somewhere meaning

46 High Level Panel of Experts (HPLE). op cit. P. 17

29

states and firms that have the cash to go around and a willingness to spend it will enter into

overseas ventures. Instead, the idea should be about how such investments can work for

Madagascar and not about who is investing where. To them, investment is vital even if some

countries get disadvantaged along the way. Therefore, the NGO idea is that if an investment does

any harm at all it shouldn’t be allowed but like any business venture – local or international – all

investments harm someone and it is just a matter of putting the right measures in place.47

This is exactly the kind of mindset that beholds the developed countries and while they can agree

that investments need to be more accountable and equitable, it still leaves considerable room for

disagreement: is it fair to force local communities to move from the little pieces of land that they

own if it increases foreign investments? Can the benefits of jobs created by these foreign

investors and their supersized corporations outweigh the loss to the state of arable land? And

who has the final say – is it the foreign investors with the money, the government of Madagascar

which owns the land or the Malagasy people whose food security is at stake?

Therefore, if there is anything that must be understood with regard to foreign investments, it is its

relationship to food. For instance, America’s population is vastly larger than it was at the turn of

the 20th Century. Almost all of the arable land in that country is now used up either for

commercial agriculture or for residential purposes. Much of their arable land has been rendered

incapable of growing food without massive inputs of oil and natural gas; the very items they are

running out of. Its prosperity is built on the principal of exhausting the world’s resources as

quickly as possible without any thought to its neighbors, other life on this planet or their

children. Moreover, considering a growth rate of 1.1 percent per year, the U.S. population alone

is projected to double by 2050. As the population expands, an estimated 1 acre of land will be

47 Good Governance Africa, Africa Land Deals Grab, Grow, and Go, Retrieved from: http://www.gga.org/analysis/,

30

lost for every person added to the U.S. population. By 2050, it’s estimated that the U.S. will

cease to be a food exporter due to domestic demand.48

2.4 CONCLUSION

The bottom line is this – if there is any issue whi ch can reveal if Madagascar is serving

corporations or its own people, it is food. More specifically, it will be an issue of whether it

supports the use of food or other plant matter to make fuels to power internal combustion

engines. It may be called agribusiness opportunity, development, foreign investment but

whatever the case, it is threatening the Malagasy people’s ability to eat. In fact, faced with a

choice of eating or working in a giant foreign corporation, most people would not hesitate to

choose eating. The process of turning any piece of land into a foreign investment opportunity is

extremely inefficient. Foreign investments are not food. 49 The fact remains that the basic

necessity of food is not reaching hundreds of millions of people around the world each year.50

In terms of neocolonialism, developed countries exercising neocolonial tendencies find their

economics and politics largely influenced from former colonial or imperial powers. For the most

part, neocolonialism is more often than not controlled through economic and monetary means.

This means that the influence of the foreign power can lead to a state feeling obliged to accept

terms and conditions that are not favorable. This often includes even crucial matters such as

implementation of food security policies which are, needless to say, very pertinent to the issue of

food security in Madagascar.

The argument is that analyzing the relationship between food security and foreign investments is

especially challenging because it is the intersection of some major global issues: food, land use,

48M. C. Ruppert, Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post-Peak Oil World, (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009) P. 75 – 21049 M. C. Ruppert, ibid. P. 75 – 210 50 W. D. Schanbacher, op cit. P. VII.

31

and development. In this case, the point of departure is that foreign investment and the policies

used to support its proliferation can relate negatively with each of the four dimensions of food

security: availability, access, utilization, and stability.51 This is due to the fact that widespread

foreign investment is highly controversial and at times even unsustainable in poor countries like

Madagascar. In other words, foreign investments are intricately connected to food production,

malnutrition, high rates of arable land use, and agricultural land deterioration. Indeed, increased

reliance of the world population on this so-called overseas investment ventures does and will

certainly continue to have adverse effects on the food supply52 of the host states.

51 High Level Panel of Experts (HPLE) op cit. P. 1 – 22: 11. 52 E. E. Michaelides, Alternative Energy Sources: Green Energy and Technology, (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009) P. 306

32

CHAPTER THREE

ASSESSING FOOD SECURITY IN MADAGASCAR BEFORE

THE 2008 GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

3.0 INTRODUCTION

In the years leading up to 2001, a governmental initiative in was launched which specified that a

food security strategy auspiced by the Surveillance Education des Ecoles et des Communautés en

matière d’ Alimentation et de Nutrition Elargie (SEECALINE) project would be adopted as the

official food security strategy for Madagascar. However, the initiative never got to stand the test

because it was never implemented. Instead, it was succeeded by the Action Plan for Rural

Development (PADR) which was thought to have more prospects of success according to the

large scope of issues it was set to undertake, including food security in Madagascar. But as of

2001, it was clear that the food insecurity in Madagascar was still staggeringly high.53

For instance, in the years leading up to the new millennium, total yearly requirements for staple

foods in Madagascar was 3,375,000 tons/year of the CE (Cereal Equivalent). This was based on

the assumption that a population of 15 million inhabitants would need 225 kilograms CE per

person each year. But one of the most damning inhibitors of food security targets, even today, is

the ever increasing population in Madagascar and around the world. In 2000 alone, Madagascar

directly produced 99 percent of its total cereal needs with just additional imports amounting to

163,400 tons of cereals. Based on those statistics then, it would appear that sufficient food was

available on a yearly basis to meet all of the internal demand. However, information provided by

53 G. Bergeron, Food Security in Madagascar: A Situation Analysis, Food and Nutritional Technical Assistance project, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC, 2002. P. 13

33

the Economic Service of USDA pointed out that there was likely to be a widening gap in terms

of food insecurity in the future in Madagascar. It was clear then and clearer now that the future

availability of food in Madagascar was and still remains very discouraging. The Economic

Service of the USDA also projected in its report that if the current situation of stagnant

productivity persisted, the food gap was projected to increase from 92 thousand tons in 2000 to

591 thousand tons in 2010. From the information dictated in previous chapters of this study, the

predictions about the food insecurity in Madagascar were right. In 2000, the population in

Madagascar stood at fifteen and a half million people. Twenty two percent of that figure resided

in the rural areas meaning they relied on subsistence farming – the few with the land to practice

it – for food supply. Then, more than two-thirds of the Malagasy population were considered

poor and food insecure and shockingly, six percent were considered extremely poor and not

having enough to eat.54

This situation led to a reevaluation of priorities among donors as to where investments should be

directed. Even then, policies of developing countries such as Madagascar were under scrutiny by

developed countries with vested interests. The only difference then was that there seemed to be a

more genuine regard for the need to solve the alarming rate at which Madagascar was becoming

more and more food insecure. Therefore, donors for instance, pressed for agricultural

diversification based on the country’s comparative advantage in the international markets. It

wasn’t the best possible solution but it was the one that was available as compared to doing

nothing about the food situation in Madagascar. The developed countries led policies through

international organizations such as World Food Program (WFP) and the IMF decided that the

reduction of food insecurity would depend to a high degree on improving economic growth,

54 Ibid P. 13 – 14

34

particularly in the agricultural sector. In turn the government of Madagascar nationalized most

private enterprises, including those in charge of marketing agricultural inputs and outputs and

parastatals were created to control the collection, sale, transformation, transport, and distribution

of main food crops. However, these measures did not have the desired effect. For example, the

structural adjustment reforms such as devaluation of the Madagascar currency on a number of

occasions were implemented but it only helped in some aspects such as increased economic

growth. Other vital sectors like the small farmers did not share in the benefits. The devaluation

did much to improve the competitiveness of the export sector on the global market but it also

triggered a multifold increase in the prices of imported goods such as fertilizers and other

agricultural inputs and thus made them out of reach for most small farmers. To add to this,

Madagascar depended and still depends on foreign assistance to a very large degree, receiving

around 400 million US dollars (USD) annually from foreign donors who are more than likely to

come with their own sets of conditionalities. Looking at it from the foreign debt angle, back in

the 2000s, it stood at around 4 billion USD.55 Today, it stands at just below the 4 billion U.S.

dollars mark according to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative whose aim is to

achieve sustainable levels of debt for heavily indebted poor countries pursuing IMF and World

Bank supported adjustment and reform programs. Therefore, no matter how one looks at it, the

road to improved food security and nutrition in Madagascar was long then and now with the

increased land-grabbing tendencies by developed countries and big corporations, it is still a long

one. This is because land which is vital for food production and consequently food security

remains a contested issue in Madagascar because of the flagrant reports of land grabs and leases

to foreign investors.

55 ibid. P. 13

35

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Its highly varied landscape segments into

three parallel zones from the North and down to the South: The first division is the low plateaus

and plains in the West. The second division is the high plateau in the center and the third is a

narrow coastal plain in the East.56 This makes Madagascar’s varied landscape to be a much sort

affair among foreign investors. In fact, Madagascar has one of the flattest plateau lands in all of

Africa. In this regard, it makes not only land relevant to food security important but also how this

land is accessed. There are various reasons given for this assertion: first, land ownership is an

important determinant of income. Second, tenure security affects capital investments in land

which is crucial to increasing productivity and income. In other words, access to land is the

single most important determinant of income in Madagascar. This is because poorer farmers

have less land than wealthier farmers. More importantly, poorer farmers have less access to the

best land than rich farmers. In terms of foreign investments, this translates to the ease at which

the best lands are accorded to the highest bidders with lots of money to invest. Access to land in

Madagascar remains the most important determinant of rural incomes.

It is highly significant to reiterate that 85 percent of the poor in Madagascar lived in rural areas.

Therefore, any effort to reduce food insecurity must concern itself with the means of subsistence

of the rural people. Particular attention should be paid to agriculture, which in the 2000s

employed 75 percent of all Malagasy.57 Agencies dealing with the mapping of food insecurity in

Madagascar reported a situation of high levels of food insecurity particularly in the long term.

For instance, Madagascar’s Early Warning System recorded a decrease in the number of

municipalities experiencing a severe food insecurity situation in the South Madagascar, down to

52 from 65. However, the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) estimated

56 ibid. P. 11 57 ibid P. 23

36

severe localized food insecurity in the short term. The WFP reported very high hunger while

IFPRI assessed an alarming scale of hunger.58

3.1 AN ANALYSIS OF FOOD INSECURITY AT HOUSEHOLD LEVELS IN

MADAGASCAR

When you look at food insecurity in the retrospect of food itself and how it is accessed in

individual households, food is the main expense for more than a third of households in

Madagascar. This is especially real for those living in the southern plateau (Amoron’i Mania

region) and in the south (Androy region). [Refer to figure 1 and 2 in chapter two to see the

location of these regions]. More alarming is the fact that in these households more than 75

percent of their expenditure is allocated to food purchases; food that most of them cannot afford

to but because they are poor.

In total, it was estimated that around 3,957,618 persons in rural areas suffer from food insecurity.

This represented about 28 percent of the households in rural areas in the 20 regions surveyed.

Only 11 percent of rural households were assessed to be food secure. This was an extremely

worrying analysis considering that severe food insecurity was said to be widespread in the south

(including the regions of Androy, Atsimo Atsinanana and Atsimo Andrefana), and in the

southern parts of the central plateau like Horombe and even in some of the productive areas like

Alaotra Mangoro. The general conclusion was that many households across the country were at

risk of food insecurity.59

Some of the steps undertaken the by the government of Madagascar to provide food availability

were a cost-share model involving joint actions by the state, international donors and their NGO

58 Food security information for decision making, June-August 2010, ‘Price monitoring and Analysis Country Brief: Madagascar’, FAO & EU. P. 1 – 2 59 Special report by Benjamin Badjeck & Ndiaye Cheikh Ibrahima & Francesco Slaviero, ‘FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment mission to Madagascar’, 9th October 2013. P. 2

37

partners, civil society and the private sector. In length, donors and their NGO partners were to

provide technical, organizational, financial resources whereas the civil society would mobilize

labor, material and, funding. The state was to act as the coordinating and regulatory role and the

private sector would finally play a key role where commercial interests were present. Judging

from the results a decade later, it is clear that these steps were not effective because not only is

Madagascar still one of the poorest countries in the world, it is also one of the most food

insecure. This can be attributed to the globalization forces which tend to favor foreign investors

with big firms and fat wallets than the poor landless people who depend on agriculture for food

productivity. Indeed, the so called joint actions with international donors and the private sectors

has led to more food insecurity because of the neocolonial traits that they have over the years

used against the poor defenseless states such as Madagascar.

3.2 THE CONCEPT OF LAND GRAB

An independent think tank called The Oakland Institute in America produced a comprehensive

research on the concept of land grab. According to the institute, land grab is a neo-colonialism

concept arose in the midst of a severe food and economic crisis in the world in 2008. It was also

identified as an international phenomenon occurring in many parts of the world, in particular

developing countries. It defined land grab as the purchase of vast tracts of land by wealthier

food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing countries in order to

produce crop for export. The research also said that land grabs conducted in the African

continent were not limited only to the traditional developed western countries that colonized

many African nations in the last century but also other countries in Asia, Latin America and the

Middle East such as Brazil, china, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates were also taking part. As

38

a result, foreign investors sought and secured between 37 million and 49 million acres of fertile

farmland in the developing countries only between 2006 and 2009.

On the other hand, the term of neo-colonialism according to Nkrumah is defined as a system that

has been invented in place of colonialism, as a main instrument of oppression. According to him,

the essence of neo-colonialism is that the state which is subjected to it is an independent and has

all outward features of international sovereignty. At least that is how it is thought to be in theory.

However, in reality it appears that both the economic system and political policy of the supposed

country are directed from outside.60 According to Oxfam international in 2011, land grabbing is

not the big issue when wealthy companies invest in agricultural land in poor nations for

commercial use. The problem comes in when indigenous poor families dependent on small piece

of land are kicked off their land. This means fewer crops are grown and consequently, these

families are unable to feed themselves and their households.

On the one hand, Nkrumah’s argument boils down to the fact that investment or in this case land

purchase under neo-colonialism, increases the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the

world. As a result, there’s widespread land lease to foreign investors in the poor countries thus

forcefully evicting indigenous peoples from their ancestral land which they occupied for

centuries. It is this trend that has continually exacerbated the already existing food shortage in

Madagascar. On the other hand, Nkrumah argues that all governments involved in this leasing of

large tracts of their lands for investments are crucial element in achieving economic development

since it will help them to boost their foreign exchange earnings and give the poor countries the

opportunity to implement huge projects for the benefits of citizens.61 As the case of Madagascar

60 Africa Land Grab: A Neo-colonialism in African Countries, Retrieved from:http://www.somalilandpress.com/africanland-grab-a-neo-colonialism-in-african-countries-41973, 17th May 2013.61 Ibid.

39

has demonstrated over the years, the benefits accrued from foreign investments deals are

asymmetrical with a majority of the population in Madagascar still feeling the harsh hand of food

insecurity among other issues.

According to Nkrumah therefore, capitalism/ imperialism simply just switched tactics due to

militancy it encountered from people of the ex- colonial countries in Sub-Saharan countries. As a

matter of fact, It is not a coincidence to witness in the increase of “development aid” in countries

that are affected by this land grab trend. In other words, Nkrumah’s observation is that today,

naked colonialism has been replaced by the more subtle form of colonization known as neo-

colonialism. Specifically, in 1965 Nkrumah referred to neo- colonialism as the sum total of

modern attempts to perpetuate colonialism while at the same time talking about ‘freedom’.

Some refer to it as neo-colonialism whereas others say it is a disaster waiting to happen but

whatever the phrasing, the headlines and reports over the years have been uniformly grim about

the land grabbing issue in Madagascar. It has been the story of shady sovereign wealth funds or

western investors with less-than-honorable intentions buying Madagascar’s land at knock-down

prices. This is why Madagascar has become the destination of choice for investors looking for

cheap, fertile land. In another example, according to an October report by Oxfam International,

62 percent of reported large-scale land deals for agriculture involving foreign investors in

developing countries in the last ten years were in Africa, covering 56.2m hectares. Of particular

interest was the report’s conclusion that a land grab is any large acquisition of land in a

developing country by a foreign investor (large being more than 200 hectares—ten times the size

of a typical small farm) that flouts human rights, fails to conduct social and environmental

impact assessments and/or avoids transparent contracts.62

62 Good Governance Africa, Africa Land Deals Grab, Grow, and Go, Retrieved from: http://www.gga.org/analysis/

40

In essence, this phenomenon of land grab has contributed to food insecurity in two ways. The

first has to do with the people who use the land even though they do not own it in a conventional,

legal sense. Usually the land is government-owned so when the government sells it off, the

people are forcefully evicted, often without compensation. The second and the most important

way is that foreigners buy fertile land, plant and then export the crops when there are plenty of

hungry mouths to feed all around those lands. It can be referred to crudely as the irony of the

quick-buck African governments versus the almighty food security investment initiatives.63 In

the wider sense of it, when governments like Madagascar eventually wake up to the need to feed

their people, much of the available land will be inaccessible and feeding citizens of other

countries due to the investment agreement contracts they blindly signed in the first place.

3.3 CONCLUSION

Throughout history, or at least the last decade or so, Madagascar has been battling food

insecurity. It is only today that the situation has been greatly exacerbated by the forces of

globalization in the name of transnational corporations looking to invest elsewhere. This is not to

say that the government of Madagascar is purely void of blame on this issue. As we have seen in

this chapter, it has continually made less than capable food policies and has failed time and time

again – with or without the help of foreign investo rs – to secure food security for its people.

Therefore, can we really justify foreign investments under neo-colonialism while one in eight

people in Madagascar are going hungry? If the world’s most powerful nations and their foreign

investment affiliates they pretend not to work through are serious about tackling hunger in

Madagascar, they must first address their own neocolonial tendencies. Their foreign investments

have created a demand for more food which in turn over the years has continued to push up the

63 Ibid.

41

food prices because they have a significant negative impact on the distribution of land and land

rights in Madagascar.

Evidently, foreign investments in Madagascar have created enormous demand for food because

the hope that they would be ‘more beneficial’ than the GoM going it alone is not a convincing

argument anymore. This is because as well as being discredited morally, foreign investments

have become a major driver of hunger in Madagascar as lands are been diverted away from the

locals who depend on it for subsistence farming to large corporations looking to expand their

units of production. Indeed, as massive tracts of land are acquired or grabbed to appease TNCs

with millions of dollars to invest families in Madagascar are left without land to feed themselves

or to grow crops to sell and support themselves. What may originally have been a well –

intentioned policy to make Madagascar more food secure or developed has turned out to be

disastrous for food security because of the diversion of land from those who need it the most to

those who can do without it

42

CHAPTER FOUR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4.0 SUMMARY

This is where we are currently: the foreign investments debate is part of the broader mainstream

global discourses addressing the causes, mitigation measures and consequences. However,

because of its entrenched slogans to safeguard livelihoods of the marginalized and promote

agriculture which employs the majority of the rural people, large scale foreign investment neo-

colonialism have been wrongly perceived by actors actively involved in these debates. To add to

this, their ideas are becoming hegemonic in foreign investments debates in the absence of a

comprehensive policy and regulatory framework to guide foreign investment64, which in turn is

leaving a huge dent in terms of the negative impacts of neo-colonialism on food security. Also,

an appreciation of the relationships and causal impact and feedback links between neo-

colonialism and food security requires assessments at both local and global levels which must be

situated within a dynamic perspective, given the fast changing developments brought about by

the globalization forces. As it has been brought out in the entire study, the complex and not

necessarily instantaneous relationship between the drivers of neo-colonial tendencies by

developed countries and firms, and their negative versus positive impacts on food security65 is a

hotly contested one.

The study already established that the theory of neo-colonialism was regularly mentioned by

African political leaders and became a catalyst for the accusative discourse. The former colonial

powers such as France, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, were followed by new emerging

64 Boamah, F., op cit. P. 16 – 17 65 High Level Panel of Experts (HPLE). op cit. P. 11

43

powers such as the United States (US), erstwhile Soviet Union and China. International

organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (WB), the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the North Atlantic Treaty

Organisation, the Central Treaty Organisation and the South East Asia Organisation have been

accused as well.66

After the Second World War the colonial system transcended into the system of neo-colonialism.

The African colonies were divided into small unviable states which stayed dependent on the

colonial powers. The economic model of colonialism was not abandoned by the formal colonial

powers even after the African countries were granted independence. The intention of the process

of decolonisation was to establish a new form of dependence through integration of African

countries into international organisations. Neo-colonialism pursues the same vision as

colonialism and that is to exploit the former colonies and keep them dependent. These dependent

countries remain underdeveloped and the living standards of people low. Neo-colonialism

differentiates itself from colonialism by domination of sovereign independent states mainly

through the economic means. Several authors claim that neo-colonialism is more fatal than

colonialism because the neo-colonial powers do not legitimize the occupation of other

countries.67

Cash-rich developed countries lacking in land (arable or not) are taking advantage of concepts

such as development to legitimize lucrative land deals under the pretext of assisting Madagascar.

Not only are these ‘land grabs’ illegal, these so-c alled ‘solutions’ are engineered by developed

countries who do not understand the magnitude of the issue of food insecurity in Madagascar.

For instance, if the land is gained, it is used for production purposes which afterwards results into

66 V. Gregusona, op cit. P. 5 – 8 67 ibid. P. 5 – 8

44

fueling the growing needs and desires of comparatively luxurious lifestyles of developed

countries further.68

It seems that more people now are realizing that there is, in fact, a new kind of imperialism

where the weapon used is capital. This capital has been used to impoverish countries to the point

where they have to beg for help and when they beg, then conditions are imposed on them, and

one of the conditions, of course, is that they must open up the economy and allow all the foreign

companies to come in and operate freely. These foreigners come in the form of huge companies

and banks to compete with the small firms and banks. This eventually leads to the fall of the

local economy as the big foreign entities absorb all of the benefits. In other words, foreign

investments insist that the host countries will get the best service and lots of money in economic

growth and development terms but as we have gathered from looking at Madagascar, all the local

people end up being are just poor workers in big foreign companies and barely adequate or

appropriate means to ensure the most basic needs such as food.69

4.1 CONCLUSION

The problem with Madagascar however, is the slow pace at which they are likely to implement

such recommendations that could potentially avert the current exploitation by developed

countries. Indeed, it is easier said than done. Even with such thoughtful initiatives by the

Malagasy government, large scale land investment comes with multiple risks especially in the

vast parts of Sub-Saharan Africa where property rights regimes are in flux and where the rights

of the poor, women and minorities are less likely to be protected.70 It is in this cycle that these

same vulnerable groups are unable to secure food for their daily dietary needs, with most

68 R. Haddad, Biofuels, Land Grabbing and Food Security in Africa, Retrieved from: www.m.thinkafricapress.com/, 15th August 2011. 69 Commentary by Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad; Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003.

70 Allan, J. A., Handbook of Land and Water Grabs in Africa: Foreign direct investment and food and water security, (Routledge, 2013). P. 19

45

languishing in extremely food insecure regions because the lands in which they are supposed to

grow food in are been auctioned off to the highest bidder.

According to Shenggen Fan; the Director-General of the International Food Policy Research

Institute, the global food system has become very vulnerable due to both natural shocks and

man-made shocks and some of the developed countries are of the idea that they need to build and

strengthen resilience and leverage the Council on Food Security to influence thought processes

and develop concrete plans. Others like David Nabarro; the UN special representative for food

security and nutrition are of the opinion that they engage in perspectives of leaders from

business, governments, the research community, farmer leaders and international organizations

to integrate solutions towards achieving global food security. 71 Don’t forget the myriad of

researchers in international organizations like the World Agro forestry Centre plan who are

looking to tap the enormous potential of alternative bio-fuels by using smart agro-forestry

systems. In other words, improve the productivity of non-cereal bio-fuels which will require

strengthening the public-private partnerships and cooperation between international financial

institutions, development organizations, foundations and the private sector.72 These are the very

kind of solutions that are threatening to drive Madagascar to a halt in terms of food security.

Therefore, in light of this information, there seem to be more available options favoring

developed countries because they can afford technologies and have the economic capacities and

alliances to pursue neo-colonial tendencies fervently, with better chances of getting away with it.

Madagascar on the other hand, has to deal with the pressure of exploitation with little to no

viable solutions to the already grave issue of food insecurity. Moreover, the opportunities for

71 World Economic Forum, op cit. Retrieved from: http://www.weforum.org/content. 72 Foster, K., Alternative Biofuel Crops to Fuel the Future of the Poor, Retrieved from: http://www.worldagroforestry.org, 11th July 2013.

46

expanding the land available for production appear to be limited 73 because as it has been

reiterated over and over in this study, neo-colonial tendencies by developed countries and global

firms – whatever the nature – is inherently predato ry on land. The answers to this discussion are

very much oriented by prospective considerations of what would be the land needed to increase

food production74 to ensure food security in Madagascar.

What is new is the commitment of the government of Madagascar to put an end to hunger.

However, according to Adama Coulibaly; the agricultural economist with United Nations

Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the scope of transformative actions has to go

beyond agriculture to work in an inclusive and holistic manner targeting those most in need.75 A

starting point would be to consolidate access to land to the poor Malagasy citizens in

Madagascar which eventually will lead to increase incomes. Also, increasing the security of

tenure is a necessary step for agricultural intensification as it stabilizes farmers’ access and

provides them with credit collateral. Besides, this position is still accepted by most scholars, but

new research is needed to make important steps with regards to the type of investments that are

offered to foreign investors in Madagascar. In the mean time, it appears that the practice of

neocolonialism by foreign investors from developed countries has contributed to the level of

food insecurity in Madagascar in more ways than one.

4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

There are various academic and policy solutions that have been explored in the case of

Madagascar and they are identified below, one by one, to aid the conclusion of this study.

4.2.0 The marginal lands concept

73 R. G. Rayfuse, & N. Weisfelt, op cit. P. 5 74 High Level Panel of Experts (HPLE). op cit. P. 15. 75 D. Cohanpour, op cit. Retrieved from: http://www.mediaglobal.org/2013/, 12th August 2013.

47

The marginal lands concept is one of the few untested academic solutions to food

insecurity in Madagascar. Marginal lands are those unsuited for food crops but with the right

agricultural technologies, they can serve as prime factor for meeting a nation’s alternative food

production goals. According to Cesar Izaurralde; a PNNL soil scientist and University of

Maryland, marginal lands can be made productive for food production using existing agricultural

and food production technologies and in so doing, contribute to avoid the conflict between land

and food production. The adjunct professor also agrees that there are many other additional

benefits for using marginal lands such as: new revenue for farmers and other land owners; no

indirect land-use effects, and; no carbon debt from land conversion if existing vegetation is used

or if new perennial crops are planted directly into existing vegetation.76 The term indirect land-

use effects have been used here to mean land in another part of the country is cleared to replace

land lost here to food production. It is also worth pointing out that this solution seems far

reaching for Madagascar in the present for two reasons. First is that Madagascar doesn’t have

these existing technologies to modify its less arable lands or the capacity to develop some of its

own and secondly, getting such technologies from foreign investors would require enabling more

neo-colonialism in exchange. Nonetheless, since this chapter is specifically formulated to tackle

the links between neo-colonialism and food insecurity in Madagascar, this concept is crucial to

the discussion.

The following sections view the policy solutions to the problem of food insecurity in Madagascar

established throughout this study.

4.2.1 Policy solution by CIRAD, ILC and the Madagascar Land Observatory

76 Cameron, L., & Robertson, P., ‘Marginal Lands are Prime Fuel Source for Alternative Energy’, Retrieved from: http://www.msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013, 16th January 2013.

48

In particular, six solutions specific to Madagascar were proposed by the Centre for Agricultural

Research and Development (CIRAD), the International Land Coalition (ILC) and the

Madagascar Observatory. These shall be noted down in detail as follows:

1. Opening a national debate on large scale land acquisitions – The stakes are so important

for the development of Madagascar, and the number of actors concerned is so high, that

this debate must not be opened only to the government and its technical services, but also

to the parliamentary level and through a process of consultation with civil society.

2. Debating agricultural policies – Madagascar’s agric ultural and land policies were already

the subset of numerous discussions, which determined the directions of public policies.

Considering the new context of land transfers to large agribusinesses, it is advisable to

update the points to be addressed.

3. Coordinating the selection and regulation of investors – To facilitate the visibility of

ongoing projects and the steps that investors have to follow, the nature and identity of the

institutions in charge of regulating investors must be questioned.

4. Regulating access to land and secure existing land rights – In order to control the

development of large scale agricultural exploitation and specifically, to limit competition

between land uses, many ministerial agents, would like to preemptively identify the land

dedicated to investment.

5. Defining parties’ commitments – At the moment, the lease contract established between

operators and the state is accompanied by a list of requirements. A first point for

reflection concerns the nature of the commitments established between operators, the

state, and consequently regional and the local governments and local populations.

49

6. Ensuring methods for assessing the commitments of the various parties – The final

elements for reflection concern the methods for assessing the commitments of the various

parties involved (operators, state, population) and for resolving disputes.77

In Madagascar, for instance, according to a report presented by CIRAD, ILC and the

Madagascar Land Observatory, a few solutions have been floated ranging from opening a

national debate on large scale acquisitions of land to debating agricultural policies to

coordinating the selection and regulation of investors and to regulate the access to land and

secure existing land rights78 But, the argument here is that these are inadequate solutions for

protecting the rights of local landholders from the negative impact of these large scale land

acquisitions79 by foreign investors.

4.2.2 Policy solution from the World Investment Report

The United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released their

annual World Investment Report (WIR) in June this year. It provided a valuable analysis that can

inform global discussions on how to accelerate progress toward the Millennium Development

Goals and shape a long-range vision for a more sustainable future beyond 2015. Among the key

issues talked about in this report is food security. According to the report, foreign direct

investment should be seen as an encouraging trend because it demonstrates the great potential of

international investment, along with other financial resources, to help reach the goals of a post-

2015 agenda for sustainable development. It also reiterates that Transnational corporations can

support this effort by creating decent jobs, generating exports, promoting rights, respecting the

environment, encouraging local content, paying fair taxes and transferring capital, technology

and business contacts to spur development. In other words, the 2014 report offers sort of a global

77 R. A. Ratsialonana, op cit. et al. P. 66 - 72 78 R. A. Ratsialonana, op cit. et al. P. 66 - 72 79 R. G. Rayfuse, & N. Weisfelt., op cit. P. 12.

50

action plan for galvanizing the role of businesses in achieving future sustainable development

goals such as food security and enhancing the private sector’s positive economic, social and

environmental impacts in countries such as Madagascar. The Report also identifies the financing

gap, especially in vulnerable economies, assesses the primary sources of funds for bridging the

gap, and proposes policy options for the future. The UNSG; Ban Ki Moon even recommend the

report to all those interested in steering private investment towards a more sustainable future.80

4.2.3 Scientific solution from the gulf

Currently, the Gulf nations are also looking into ways to boost food production in the hope

that science will turn desert areas into arable land to boost food security and avoid the risks

inherent in buying farmland abroad. However, many of the countries in the region have the cash

to adopt such expensive solutions that others like Madagascar do not. For instance, Israel has

gained a worldwide reputation for its ability to turn barren desert into useful and arable land.

Professor Pedro Berliner; the director of Israel’s foremost research center for desert research at

the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev Desert

says that they’ve done a lot of research on the ecosystem response to drought because they face

the problem head on81 since most of the gulf states are located in or along some of the biggest

and harshest deserts. Madagascar does not have a desert but surely, such a solution would come

in handy in the less productive areas of the country.

4.2.4 Other multilateral policy solutions

Other options include the multilateral initiatives whose deadlines are set forth five years

ahead of the UN Secretary-General’s “Zero Hunger” C hallenge 2030 deadline. A few initiatives

introduced include: reducing hunger by 40 percent in nations who agree upon this renewed

80 UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2014, Retrieved from: http://www.unctad.org/en/pages/, 24th June 2014.

81 Kloosterman, K., Israel Turns Barren Land Into Useful and Arable Land, Retrieved from: http://www.israelseen.com/2012/07/19, 19th July 2013.

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partnership; reducing the need for food; and doubling the production of staples within 5 – 10

years without sacrificing agricultural sustainability. This challenge also reaffirmed both Maputo

and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) original allocation

target of 10 percent of all national budgets to agricultural development projects. Research has

shown that this ambitious target is the boost needed to meet MDGs food insecurity reduction

targets. As it stands, a large number of African countries have adopted CAADP’s 10 percent

budget allocation, including Madagascar. However, only 10 out of 54 AU member states,

including the Least Developed Countries have been able to implement them.82

The 10th CAADP Partnership Platform Meeting was held on March 2014 from the 18th to

the 22nd of 2014 where realities of food insecurity were still been assessed. Organizations like

the CAADP are governed through a multi-donor trust fund, which means it is more than likely

that it will comply with the wishes of the donors and not the needy developing countries they are

trying to help like Madagascar.

82 D. Cohanpour, op cit. Retrieved from: http://www.mediaglobal.org/2013/, 12th August 2013.

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