The current debate is centred on the conflict between the interests of farmers and industry. There are many more livelihoods at stake.
There is an important debate simmering in the Indian Parliament on the national land acquisition law that will decide the fate of many of the country’s people. Despite its import, the debate has been reductive. It fails to fully appreciate that there is more to the land question than a single legislation or indeed a conflict between the interests of farmers and industry.
Land, arguably the most coveted and contested natural resource of our time, is in transition all over the world. By some estimates, multinational companies supported by governments from the global north and emerging economies have purportedly leased or purchased 47.68 million hectares of land in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Oceania and Eastern Europe. This is for producing biofuels, food, forest resources, industrial goods, tourism and livestock. The figure excludes areas below 200 hectares, the period before 2000, and land purchases by domestic capital. So, no doubt, the actual scale of transactions in land is much higher.
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