Archive for August, 2011

The Ice Dragon? Chinese Tycoon Seeks To Buy Tract Of Iceland
August 29th, 2011

Via The Financial Times, a very interesting article about a Chinese tycoon’s plans to buy a vast tract of Icelandic land for a $100m tourism project which critics fear could give Beijing a strategic foothold in the North Atlantic.  As the report notes: “…Huang Nubo, a real estate investor and former Chinese government official, has […]

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The Hungry Dragon: China In Africa
August 27th, 2011

Via The Wall Street Journal, an interesting report on China’s overseas land purchases: When it comes to famine in Africa, China seems an easy target for critics of its rising outbound investments. It’s not much of a secret that the Chinese have been swiftly stepping up their investment profile on the continent, including enough forays […]

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Fear Of Unrest + Hunger For Profit = Massive Acquisitions Of Farmland
August 24th, 2011

Via Climate Connections, an interesting article on how, as China and others jockey for land and power, the weight of shifting empires and changing climate is threatening to crush international cooperation on ending hunger: A 21st-century land rush is on. Driven by fear and lured by promises of high profits, foreign investors are scooping up […]

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Green Revolution Or Green Plunder?
August 1st, 2011

Via IPP Media, a report on the politics and tensions surrounding a U.S. investment in Tanzanian agriculture.  As the article notes: “…When a local consultant firm, Serengeti Advisers, heard about a much marketed, ‘Green revolution’ or Kilimo Kwanza as it’s known here, the firm quickly grabbed the golden opportunity and invited a US based giant […]

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About This Blog And Its Author
Seeds Of A Revolution is committed to defining the disruptive geopolitics of the global Farms Race.  Due to the convergence of a growing world population, increased water scarcity, and a decrease in arable land & nutrient-rich soil, a spike of international investment interest in agricultural is inevitable and apt to bring a heretofore domestic industry into a truly global realm.  Whether this transition involves global land leases or acquisitions, the fundamental need for food & the protectionist feelings this need can give rise to is highly likely to cause such transactions to move quickly into the geopolitical realm.  It is this disruptive change, and the potential for a global farms race, that Seeds Of A Revolution tracks, analyzes, and forecasts.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has long held a keen interest in natural resource policy and the geopolitical implications of anticipated stresses in the areas of freshwater scarcity, biodiversity reserves & parks, and farm land.  Monty has lived, worked, and traveled in more than forty countries spanning Africa, China, western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast & Central Asia, and his personal interests comprise economic development, policy, investment, technology, natural resources, and the environment, with a particular focus on globalization’s impact upon these subject areas.  Monty writes about freshwater scarcity issues at www.waterpolitics.com and frontier investment markets at www.wildcatsandblacksheep.com.