Regulating Corporate Land Purchases Will Reduce Food Insecurity

Food sovereignty-the right of people to own and manage local food systems-is closely connected to food security. Land grabs-the mass purchase of agricultural land by transnational companies-are displacing and disenfranchising local people, putting their food security at risk. These companies export most of the food harvested from land grabs to feed others, and locals must buy food rather than harvest it for themselves, Some claim that land grabs are a form of colonialism, but others add that local governments also contribute by encouraging land purchases. To protect the food security of vulnerable people, policymakers should regulate land grabs and support better local governance. To encourage these changes, communities must resist dispossession from their land.