In five short years, rich countries have acquired about 80 million hectares of land in Africa and other developing countries...Now, foreigners have always owned land in Africa. What is new...is the scale, size and more importantly, the exclusion of civil society and local communities in the process. There is a strong feeling among observers that most of the negotiations are done behind closed doors...“There is a huge lack of transparency on land governance matters...regarding pricing, decision-making processes, contractual agreements and issues of community involvement and compensation,” says the International Land Coalition (ILC)...Although supporters of these transactions cite food security as one of the benefits, it is not obvious that the land deals will address local food insecurity...What worries observers is that most investors seem to insist on a 100 per cent food repatriation. In most of the contracts, domestic markets are of marginal concern.