Some of the world's richest countries are buying or leasing land in some of the world's poorest to satisfy insatiable appetites for food and fuel. In the new scramble for Africa, nearly 2.5m hectares (6.2m acres) of farmland in just five sub-Saharan countries have been bought or rented in the past five years at a total cost of $920m...China, well known for its interests in minerals and oil, appears to be one of the more modest "neocolonialists" of African agriculture. Vast tracts of the continent's arable but fallow land are being bought by companies from India, South Korea, America and several oil-rich, food-poor Arab nations...A report published...by the International Food Policy Research Institute...warned: "Unequal power relations in the land acquisition deals can put the livelihoods of the poor at risk. Since the state often formally owns the land, the poor run the risk of being pushed off the plot in favour of the investor, without consultation or compensation." [refers to Lonrho, Flora EcoPower, Sun Biofuels, Daewoo, Trans4mation Agric-tech]