Archive for October, 2012

The Global And Local Land-Grab

Via The Express Tribute, some commentary on the global land grab: Colonialism is alive and well in most former colonies — with one major difference. Previously, the colonials barged in armed to the teeth, compelling locals to produce selected crops to make fortunes and fuel their Industrial Revolution. Today, the neocolonials are no longer content […]

Read more »



Indian Companies Which Invested In Controversial Land Deals In Ethiopia Reap Bitter Harvest

Via the Ethiopian Times, a report on Indian companies who have found agribusiness in Ethiopia very difficult: Indian companies which invested in controversial deals involving hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Ethiopia have found themselves out of their depth in a fast-growing African economy that is still in the process of building critical […]

Read more »



Who’s Behind The Land Grabs?

Via Farmland Grab, an in-depth look at some of the individuals and organizations behind the recent land acquisitions worldwide: Every day there are new stories of companies buying up farmlands. Malaysian palm oil giants buying up lands for plantations in West Africa. Wall Street bankers taking over cattle ranches in Brazil. Saudi businessmen signing land […]

Read more »



Food Security Risk Index 2013

Via The Guardian, an interesting graphical analysis of food security risk worldwide to use as a barometer to identify those countries which may be susceptible to famine and societal unrest stemming from food shortages and price fluctuations:

Read more »



Are India’s Farmers Victims of a Global Land Rush?

Via TIME, a report on how rising food prices have sparked protests in India and elsewhere in the developing world because of the global land rush: Members of India’s rural communities, including the landless, poor farmers and the tribal community, sleep on a road at a halting point during “Jan Satyagraha,” a march to New […]

Read more »


  | 
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.