Archive for July, 2022

Chinese Investors To Cultivate 10,000 Hectares Of Rice In Nigeria

Via The Daily Trust, an article on Chinese investors plan to cultivate rice in Nigeria: Gov. Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State has said a group of Chinese investors will establish 10,000 hectares of rice plantation under a trial agricultural project in the state. Buni, in a statement by his Director-General, Press and Media Affairs, Alhaji […]

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Iran To Use 1M Hectares of Venezuelan Land To Grow Food

Via Iran International, a report that Iran plans to use one million hectares of land in Venezuela to grow food: An Iranian official says that Venezuela has agreed to provide one million hectares of agricultural land for Iran’s overseas cultivation projects to secure food.   Announcing the agreement last week, Ali Rezvanizadeh said Venezuela can provide […]

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Land Grabs: Governments Seeking Food Security Sow Seeds Of Discontent

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a look at the imminent rise of scuffles between local populations and new global landlords: Donald Trump stole headlines as US president when he was reported to be interested in buying Greenland. The self-governing Danish territory rebuffed the idea and declared itself not for sale. But transnational land deals are hardly an […]

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China’s Great Sand Grab

Via Foreign Policy, a look at what some are calling China’s theft of Taiwan’s sand: At the end of April, the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration received a new frigate, the Hsinchu. At 4,000 tons, it’s a massive beast and was immediately assigned for duty in Taiwan’s Northern Pacific Flotilla to protect one of Taiwan’s most precious maritime […]

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Russia Occupies 22% of Ukraine Farmland

Via Seed Daily, a report on Russia’s occupation of 22% of Ukraine’s farmland: Russian forces now occupy about 22 percent of Ukraine’s farmland since the February 24 invasion, impacting one of the major suppliers to global grain and edible oils markets, NASA said Thursday. Satellite data analyzed by scientists at the US space agency shows that […]

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Squeezing Africa Dry

Via GRAIN, a report on how water is often behind the scramble for land in Africa: Food cannot be grown without water. In Africa, one in three people endure water scarcity and climate change will make things worse. Building on Africa’s highly sophisticated indigenous water management systems could help resolve this growing crisis, but these […]

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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.