One of the items on the agenda at last week's G8 summit was the growing trend of developed nations appropriating tracts of land belonging to developing nations. During the past 3 years an area half the size of France has been taken this way.
There is nothing new about this, in fact, people with means have been claiming title to as much land as possible since Babylonian times, and probably even before then. Land grabs created the basis for the repressive medieval feudal system and have been behind the consolidation of agriculture in the United States which has driven so many family farms off their land.
It's hard to believe that any substantive results can be achieved by the leaders of nations founded on similar policies. Still, I'm encouraged to see the issue addressed at this international conference, even if the only immediate result is a consensus acknowledging that it's wrong to displace small-scale farmers for the sake of international trade.
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