Large land deals between African governments and usually foreign (and sometimes domestic) investors have seen swathes of the countryside leased or concessioned, often for as much as 50 to 99 years. From Senegal...to Ethiopia...to Mozambique...land considered idle and available has changed hands, with profound implications for local people and the environment...Underpinning these deals is the longstanding failure...to recognise, in law and practice, the customary land rights of existing farming households and communities, and the perpetuation of the colonial legal codes that centralise control over such lands in the hands of the state as trustee of all unregistered property...The land grab raises questions not only about land rights and transparency in investment, but also what constitutes inclusive agricultural development and how to bring it about...The challenge remains to develop concrete alternative development programmes that confirm land and other resource rights in the hands of local farming families and invest in them.