The world food crisis has spurred foreign direct investments (FDI) into arable land in developing countries. While significant financial inflows into agricultural sectors could be beneficial on a global scale, it could negatively affect local livelihoods. This article provides an overview of the different types of FDI in land. In addition, examples of investment flows are illustrated in an overview and a sustainable impact matrix outlines the occurring effects. Finally, requirements of avoiding negative effects are presented, to achieve a Pareto-efficient win-win situation.

Matthias Bickel
Dr Thomas Breuer
Planning Officers Division 45 - Agriculture,Fisheries and Food
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)
Eschborn, Germany
Thomas.Breuer@gtz.de