Archive for November, 2015

Foreign Ownership Ban Scuttles Australia’s Biggest Land Sale
November 20th, 2015

Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on a prohibited land sale in Australia: A government ban on foreign investors buying a pioneering dynasty’s collection of cattle ranches has scuttled Australia’s biggest land sale, an official said on Friday. The government announced on Thursday it had barred foreigners from buying S. Kidman & Co. […]

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TIAA-CREF, U.S. Investment Giant, Accused Of Land Grabs In Brazil
November 17th, 2015

Courtesy of the New York Times, an article on TIAA-CREF’s forays into the Brazilian agriculture: As an American investment giant that manages the retirement savings of millions of university administrators, public school teachers and others, TIAA-CREF prides itself on upholding socially responsible values, even celebrating its role in drafting United Nations principles for buying farmland that promote transparency, environmental […]

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Saudi Wells Running Dry — of Water — Spell End of Desert Wheat
November 5th, 2015

Via Bloomberg, a report on Saudi Arabia’s plans to import all the wheat needed for 2016 consumption beacause aquifers used to irrigate crops are depleting rapidly: Cultured farms in sit in Saudi Arabia. For decades, only a few features punctuated the vastness of the Saudi desert: oil wells, oases — and wheat fields. Despite torrid weather […]

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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.