“Land grabs” is a term coined by the media to describe large-scale purchases or leases of agricultural or forest land on terms that do not serve those already living on the land.

The spikes in global food prices in 2007-8 served as a wake-up call to the global community on the inadequacies of our global food system. Commodity prices doubled, the estimated number of hungry people topped one billion, and food riots spread through the developing world.

The number of undernourished people in the world has set a scandalous new record of one billion in 2009, in spite of a record grain harvest in 2008. This book argues that the

In 2008, agricultural commodity prices on world markets reached their highest levels in 30 years. In some cases, the nominal prices set new records. Some of the policy mistakes are seemingly not directly related to agriculture, but have had a profound impact on production choices, and on what kind of food is available, and to whom.